Starting on Wednesday June 16th, Belgium will begin to issue the European Digital Covid Certificates, being at the forefront of this initiative in Europe. The office of the Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke released a statement on Thursday June 10th announcing the official staring date for the deployment of the European Digital Covid Certificate in Belgium.
Holders of the much anticipated certificate — granted to individuals who have been vaccinated for at least two weeks, have recovered from Covid-19 within the past 6 months or are in possession of a negative PCR test prior to departure — will be able to travel quarantine-free within the EU.
In a wider scale, the European Digital Covid Certificate is expected to be released across the EU in the form of a QR code that can either be stored on a smartphone or printed out on paper. Specifications on how the QR code can be requested have not yet been made available.
As of July 1st, authorities in all 27 EU member states ought to be relying on it to ease travel within the block. Holders of a valid Covid certificate will be allowed to use it upon arrival in Belgium.
The Health Minister’s office advised individuals wishing to travel between June 16th and July 1st to first check whether the country they plan to visit already accepts the certificate.
