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Bulgaria is completely ready for the introduction of the EU Digital COVID Certificate. That has been made possible after the national system integrator Information Services conducted successful tests and completed the incorporation of the Bulgarian system with that of the European Commission. The latter means that the Bulgarian certificates are compatible with the systems of other EU Member States. The regulations note that the certificate becomes effective from 1 July 2021. The Central System is expected to start operationson 1 June 2021, which will allow Member States that are technically equipped to issue green certificates as early as next month. The green certificate is expected to make travel in European countries much easier.
"We are delighted that Bulgaria is one of the first countries in the EU, which has achieved successful incorporation of its system with the one of the EC and from June 1, 2021 we will be able to issue valid EU Digital COVID Certificates," the Information Services' CEO Ivaylo Filipov said. The Bulgarian document complies with all the recommendations of the expert council of the European Commission E-Health Network, he added.
The EU Digital COVID Certificate is presumed by regulation to befree of charge. The European Commission defines three types of the document - for fully completed vaccination cycle with one of the EC-approved vaccines against COVID-19, for negative coronavirus test result and for recovery. The three options contain a special QR code bywhich the authorities in the EU countries will be able to check its validity.
The vaccination certificate includes information on the names and dates of birth of the vaccinated person, the code of the International Classification of Medicinal Products, the commercial name of the product, the manufacturer, the batch, the date of vaccination, the country of administration, the vaccination center and other mandatory attributes.
The document for a negative coronavirus test includes information about the type of test, date of testing, results, manufacturer, the laboratory that carried out the test, etc., and the certificate for recovery includes information about the date of the first positive COVID-19 test and validity of the certificate. It is important to note that according to specifications of the EC, the validity of the recovery certificate extends further than 180 days from the first positive test.
Initially, only vaccination certificates will be issued, and the documents for recovery and a negative coronavirus test result are expected to be introduced after mid-June.
The EU Digital COVID Certificate will be а part of the patient's electronic medical record. Every Bulgarian citizen has access to his / her record via the health information portal of the NHIS www.his.bg by a qualified electronic signature (QES) and has access to it from anywhere in the world, at any time.
The system, developed by Information Services will automatically regenerate all issued so far certificates in the new European format when the regulation takes effect. The old certificates will continue to be valid in Bulgaria, with a grace period until August 12, 2021, in order to avoid overcrowding of people for reissuance.
Information Services experts are currently developing a mobile application that will allow health certificate owners to save them on their mobile phone or tablet without having to print them out and queue in front of GPs or vaccination centers for issuing the document. This will make it much easier for citizens to travel.