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UPDATED: A step-by-step guide to getting the Swiss Covid certificate

Switzerland has made its Covid-19 health pass available, which will help with travel, nightclubs and events. Here’s how you get it.

Published: 7 June 2021 18:02 CEST
Updated: 27 August 2021 13:58 CEST
UPDATED: A step-by-step guide to getting the Swiss Covid certificate
Switzerland's Covid-19 certificate app up close. Image: FOPH

On Monday, June 7th, Switzerland finally released its Covid-19 certificate, which will provide certain rights and privileges to holders for travel and events. 

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

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

More information about what the pass allows holders to do can be found at the following link. 

UPDATED: Everything you need to know about the ‘green pass’, Switzerland’s coronavirus immunity card

What is the Covid certificate?

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

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

What will the certificate look like? 

The Covid-19 certificate will be issued to you in paper and electronic form, which will either be as a printed out certificate or as a QR code which you can scan into Switzerland’s Covid Certificate App to carry and display from your mobile device. 

While this is a cantonal responsibility, you will generally be given a paper copy of your vaccination certificate while also being sent the electronic version. 

Besides the person’s first and last names, date of birth and a certificate number, the COVID certificate contains details of their COVID-19 vaccination, recovery, or negative PCR or rapid antigen test. 

The heart of the certificate is the QR code. 

In both cases, they will be accompanied by an official government electronic signature to prevent forgery. 

Authorities said holders may also need to show their ID or passport when presenting the certificate. 

The digital system comprises in particular a storage application (Covid Certificate) and a verification application (Covid Certificate Check), the government said. 

Both apps are available for free. Here is the link for the Apple App store here, and that for Android. 

Switzerland’s Covid-19 certificate app up close. Image: FOPH

Where can I get the Covid-19 certificate? 

You get the certificate in the place in which you were vaccinated, recovered from the virus or tested negative. 

This means you can get the certificate at any of the following locations: Vaccination centres, medical practices, hospitals, pharmacies, test centres and laboratories. 

If you have already been fully vaccinated and did not receive a QR code, you must contact cantonal authorities to get the certificate. 

If you have recovered from the virus, you will also need to contact your canton. You will need to have had the virus and recovered in the previous six months – and you will need documentary evidence of this. 

READ MORE: How do you prove you’ve recovered from Covid in Switzerland?

For people who test negative, you will be given a certificate. 

Both PCR and antigen tests apply here, although the validity differs. 

A negative PCR test is valid for 72 hours, while a negative antigen test is valid for 48 hours. 

Self tests are not valid for the certificate.  

While you will get a paper print out with a negative test in most cases, you can also get it displayed on the Covid Certificate App by scanning in your QR code.

The app – which is different to the Swiss Covid tracing app – is available here for Google/Android phones and here for Apple phones.

You can scan the QR code into the app, then it will be recorded there and you can use it as you would the paper slip.

How will this allow me to travel? 

Yes. 

As of Friday, July 9th, Switzerland’s Covid certificate has become a part of the EU travel framework. 

The European Union and Switzerland will recognise each other’s Covid vaccination certificates from Friday, July 9th.

This means you do not need to get an additional app – you can use your Swiss Covid Certificate app to travel in the EU. 

More information about this is available at the following link. 

EXPLAINED: How to use Switzerland’s Covid app when travelling in the EU

Member comments

  1. How can US visitors fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine in the US get a Swiss COVID 19 certificate ?We are visiting Switzerland in a week, we would appreciate any help you can provide. Thank you.

    1. Hi,

      We are traveling to Switzerland in a week and had the same question about receiving the Swiss Covid 19 certificate. I was wondering if you ever sorted this out and had a solution you could share?

  2. I’m going to be in Switzerland for a couple of weeks in October. Does anyone know if the NHS app (U.K.), proving I’m doubly vaccinated, will be accepted in cafes, restaurants? I’d be very grateful for any info.

    Thks

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TRAVEL NEWS

Closure of A13 motorway: The alternative routes from Switzerland to Italy

As summer school break in many Swiss cantons is about to begin, your plans to drive south for the holidays may be seriously disrupted by the closure of one of the main routes between Switzerland and Italy.

Published: 25 June 2024 11:52 CEST
Closure of A13 motorway: The alternative routes from Switzerland to Italy

Italy is one of the most favourite summer destinations for many Swiss families: not only is it geographically close enough to get there by car, but it also has abundance of beaches and good weather is almost guaranteed.

But driving to Italy this summer, especially in the next few weeks, will be no simple matter.

Recent massive thunderstorms unleashed a landslide of mud and rubble, which destroyed a part of the north-south axis of the A13 motorway.

The collapsed section, between Thusis (GR) and Bellinzona (TI), is an important throughway for both passenger and commercial traffic, as it connects Switzerland with Italy.

The San Bernardino Pass, which straddles the A13, is consequently closed to traffic, as are the impacted parts of the motorway.

They will remain closed ‘until further notice,’ which is a general and non-specific term — primarily because nobody knows for sure.

According to the Graubünden cantonal police, this section will remain out of service “for months,” while the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) said it expects “to be able to reopen the A13 in three to four weeks.” 

But even this slightly more optimistic forecast is not definite.

Roads will reopen within this timeframe “only under the assumption that there will be no ‘nasty surprises,’ according to FEDRO. “The clean-up work and reconstruction depends, among other things, on the weather.”

Either way, if you are heading south in the immediate future, expect, as Swiss media reported, “impending traffic chaos.”

To make matters worse, the cantonal road, which is normally used as an alternative, was also damaged by the storm, and is closed to transit and through traffic in both directions.

What alternative south-bound routes are there?

FEDRO recommends the Gotthard route — either via the tunnel or the Pass.

There are other options as well, though they will take longer:

In Switzerland:

  • Over the Oberalp and Lukmanier passes
  • Over the Julier and Maloja passes
  • Over the Albula and Bernina passes via Poschiavo
  • Over the Grimsel and Nufenen passes
  • Through the Lötschberg car transport and the Simplon pass
  • From the Brünig pass road via Grimsel and Simplon
  • Via Martigny over the Great St. Bernard

Alternative routes abroad, for which fees may apply:

  • Via South Tyrol
  • Via Geneva through the Mont Blanc tunnel
  • Via Geneva, Annecy and the Fréjus tunnel

Will you be able to avoid traffic jams on these alternate routes?

It is highly doubtful.

During the holiday season, there is almost always congestion and bottlenecks in front of the Gotthard Tunnel, the Great St. Bernard, and the Lötschberg.

Traffic could be lighter if you avoid peak travel hours and weekends, but don’t expect miracles.

You can find real-time information about traffic jams and road conditions here:

TCS

strassen.gr.ch

Should you travel by train instead?

It is always a good idea if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, and trains are typically a more relaxing and reliable way to travel.

Except this summer.

From June 9th, and for at least three months, the train service between Italian cities of Domodossola and Milan will be interrupted due to railway works, also disrupting travel between western Switzerland and Italy.

A bus service set up by Swiss national railway company, SBB, will run between the two cities, adding at least an hour to the trip in the best traffic conditions.

But train traffic to and from other countries — including France, Germany, and Austria — will be chaotic as well.

You can find more information about these disruptions here:

READ ALSO: Why you should not rely on trains to and from Switzerland this summer 

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