Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

COVID-19 CERTIFICATE

Reader question: Does Switzerland recognise India’s CoWIN Covid certificate?

Ahead of the winter tourism season, Switzerland will be welcoming people from the world over. Will Indians be able to use their CoWIN app in Switzerland?

Published: 23 November 2021 17:11 CET
A bartender checks someone's Covid certificate
Which foreign certificates work in Switzerland? Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Since September 13th, a Covid certificate has been required to access indoor areas of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and other event venues.

EXPLAINED: What will Switzerland’s expanded Covid certificate look like?

The Covid-19 certificate – otherwise known as the Covid-19 pass or the green pass – is available in paper and digital form.

The pass “provides documentary evidence that you have had a COVID-19 vaccination, have had and recovered from the disease or have tested negative”.

Keep in mind that you do not need a Covid certificate to enter Switzerland. To enter, you can show paper or digital evidence of your vaccination.

EXPLAINED: Who can enter Switzerland right now and what are the rules?

While foreigners can get a Covid certificate, people from particular countries can also use their own certificates – and save themselves 30 francs in the process.

Does Switzerland recognise India’s CoWIN app?

Unfortunately, Switzerland as yet does not recognise India’s CoWIN app. 

In addition to all EU countries, at November 16th, 2021, Switzerland recognises passes from the following countries:

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Faroe Islands, Holy See, Israel, Morocco, Monaco, North Macedonia, Panama, San Marino, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

This is laid out in the following regulation on the matter and is subject to change.

Covid certificate: Can the UK’s NHS app be used in Switzerland?

As can be seen from that list, passes from India (CoWIN) are not recognised, nor are passes from the United States.

As it stands, the United States does not have a nationwide app but some states have set up their own vaccine passes.

If you do not, then you will need to get the Swiss Covid certificate to access bars, restaurants etc.

Can foreigners get a Covid certificate in Switzerland?

Obviously, for anyone wanting to visit Switzerland, things are likely to be a whole lot more fun if you have a Covid certificate – particularly in winter where it’s a little too cold to eat outside.

Foreigners can definitely get a Covid certificate – we’ve gone through how to do that in the following guide – however they may prefer to use the Covid app of their own country (where this is possible).

Canton-by-canton: How visitors can get Switzerland’s Covid certificate

This is because everyone coming to Switzerland will need to pay a fee of CHF30 ($32/£24/€28.50/$AU44) in order to get the Covid certificate.

The direct link to get the Swiss Covid certificate is here. 

Therefore, if you come from a country with a Covid certificate – and that Covid certificate is accepted in Switzerland – then you can use your own and do not need to get the Swiss version.

Is your pass not recognised or are you unclear on some of the details? Please get in touch at [email protected].

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

EU extends Covid travel certificates until 2023 but what does this mean for travellers?

The EU has announced that its Covid travel certificate will be extended until 2023. Claudia Delpero looks at what this mean if you have a trip planned this year.

Published: 29 June 2022 11:03 CEST
Updated: 4 July 2022 09:35 CEST
EU extends Covid travel certificates until 2023 but what does this mean for travellers?

Cleaning up the phone and thinking of getting rid of that Covid app? Just wait a minute. 

The European Union has decided to extend the use of EU Covid certificates by one year, until June 30th 2023. 

The European Commission first made the proposal in February as the virus, and the Omicron variant in particular, was continuing to spread in Europe. At that point it was “not possible to determine the impact of a possible increase in infections in the second half of 2022 or of the emergence of new variants,” the Commission said. 

Now tourism is taking off again, while Covid cases are on the rise in several European countries.

So the EU has taken action to ensure that travellers can continue using the so-called ‘digital green certificates’ in case new restrictions are put in place after their initial deadline of June 30th, 2022. 

What is the EU ‘digital green certificate’?

If you have travelled within the EU in the last year, you have probably already used it.

On 1st July 2021, EU countries started to introduce the ‘digital green certificate’, a Covid pass designed by the European Commission to facilitate travel between EU member states following months of restrictions.

It can be issued to EU citizens and residents who have been vaccinated against Covid, have tested negative or have recovered from the virus, as a proof of their health status. 

Although it’s called a certificate, it isn’t a separate document, it’s just a way of recognising all EU countries’ national health pass schemes.

It consists of a QR code displayed on a device or printed.

So if you live in an EU country, the QR code issued when you were vaccinated or tested can be scanned and recognised by all other EU countries – you can show the code either on a paper certificate or on your country’s health pass app eg TousAntiCovid if you’re in France or the green pass in Italy. 

Codes are recognised in all EU 27 member states, as well as in 40 non-EU countries that have joined the scheme, including the UK – full list here.

What does the extension of certificates mean? 

In practice, the legal extension of the EU Covid pass does not mean much if EU countries do not impose any restrictions.

It’s important to point out that each country within the EU decides on its own rules for entry – requiring proof of vaccination, negative tests etc so you should check with your country of destination.

All the EU certificate does is provide an easy way for countries to recognise each others’ certificates.

At present travel within the EU is fairly relaxed, with most countries only requiring negative tests for unvaccinated people, but the certificate will become more relevant again if countries impose new measures to curb the spread of the virus. 

According to the latest data by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, countries such as France, Portugal and parts of Italy and Austria are in the red again. 

The EU legislation on the certificate neither prescribes nor prohibits such measures, but makes sure that all certificate holders are treated in the same way in any participating country. 

The EU certificate can also be used for access to venues such as bars and restaurants if countries decided to re-impose health or vaccines passes on a domestic basis.

So nothing changes?

In fact, the legislation introduces some changes to the current certificates. These include the clarification that passes issued after vaccination should reflect all doses administered, regardless of the member state where the inoculation occurred. This followed complaints of certificates indicating an incorrect number of vaccine doses when these were received in different countries.

In addition, new rules allow the possibility to issue a certificate of recovery following an antigen test and extend the range of uthorised antigen tests to qualify for the green pass. 

To support the development and study of vaccines against Covid, it will also be possible to issue vaccination certificates to people participating in clinical trials.

At the insistence of the European Parliament, the Commission will have to publish an assessment of the situation by December 31st 2022 and propose to repeal or maintain the certificate accordingly. So, while it is extended for a year, the certificate could be discontinued earlier if it will no longer be consider necessary. 

The European parliament rapporteur, Spanish MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar, said: “The lack of coordination from EU governments on travel brought chaos and disruption to the lives of millions of Europeans that simply wanted to move freely and safely throughout the EU.

“We sincerely hope that the worst of the pandemic is far behind us and we do not want Covid certificates in place a day longer than necessary.”

Vaccination requirements for the certificate

An EU certificate can be issued to a person vaccinated with any type of vaccine, but many countries accept only EMA-approved vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Valneva and Janssen) – if you have been vaccinated with another vaccine, you should check the rules on the country you are travelling to.  

Certificates remain valid for 9 months (270) days following a complete vaccination cycle – so if you had your vaccine more than nine months ago you will need a booster in order to be considered fully vaccinated.

There is no requirement for a second booster, so if you have had a booster you remain ‘fully vaccinated’ even if your booster was administered more than 9 months ago. 

As of 1st March 2022, EU countries had issued almost 1.2 billion EU Covid certificates, of which 1.15 billion following vaccination, 511 million as a result of tests and 55 million after recovery from the virus. 

France, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Austria are the countries that have issued the largest number of EU Covid certificates. 

SHOW COMMENTS