John Lahart
Question:216. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health if he will address a series of issues (details supplied) relating to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. [10190/22]
View answerWednesday, 23 February 2022
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Digital COVID Certificates for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines are now being issued in Ireland. The certificates are being issued via email to individuals who have received their booster vaccination and paper versions of the certs are available upon request.
Over 2.7 million citizens are due to receive updated booster certificates, and this has resulted in longer wait times for the service centre for calls and live chats. Additional agents were put in place to support the surge capacity and the online self-service portal has been operating effectively.
As of 16th February, the online service for booster certificates is open for Irish passport holders, aged 18 and older, vaccinated in Northern Ireland with vaccines accepted in Ireland, to apply for an Irish Digital COVID Certificate for their booster dose.
Applicants can now upload their QR coded vaccination certificate from Northern Ireland to the online portal as proof of vaccination.
It is important to note that the UK has been awarded an equivalence decision under the EU Digital COVID Certificate Regulation. As a result, UK COVID Certificates are now accepted in the EU under the same conditions as the EU Digital COVID Certificates. Likewise, the EU Digital COVID Certificate is accepted in the UK as equivalent to UK COVID Certificates.