multe EU countries have begun issuing digital travel passports, but Hungary lagged behind. Budapest authorities have announced that the "EU COVID Digital Certificate" will be ready by June 15, but due to delays, the country has revealed that the document will not be introduced before June 30.
In order to meet all the requirements set by the European Union regarding the timely implementation of the COVID digital passport, the application established by the Hungarian authorities will indicate the type of vaccine that was administered and the dates on which the doses were administered. It is anticipated that the introduction of the passport on 30 June will not be a problem for the Hungarian authorities, as "EU COVID digital certificate" will officially enter into force on 1 July.
Hungary will implement the "EU COVID Digital Certificate" starting June 30.
However, the national eHealth infrastructure vaccination application has already received negative feedback. Thus, its late release leaves little or no time for the application to be tested and improved, if necessary. In addition, EU authorities have confirmed that people vaccinated with Sinopharm or Sputnik V vaccines cannot enjoy the same privileges as those who have been vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The European Commission has allowed EU member states to issue certificates for people who have been vaccinated with vaccines other than those approved by the EMA. However, it is up to each Member State to decide whether to allow vaccinated persons with a vaccine not approved by the EMA to enter their territory.
The EU's COVID digital passport has been set up by the European Union to allow safe travel within Europe.
According to the EU Commission, the following countries are successfully connected to the EU DCC gateway and issue or verify certificates: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Iceland. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Croatia and Poland are the first to start issuing certificates within the bloc, while the other countries have recently joined.
The digital passport is a one-page document that can be issued by travelers in physical or digital format. Based on the status of travelers, three separate passports were issued, including a vaccination passport, a test certificate and a recovery certificate. EMA-approved vaccines include Comirnaty (BioNTech, Pfizer), Moderna, Vaxzevria (formerly AstraZeneca, Oxford) and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).