Thread by @jonworth

Right

Armed with my EU Digital COVID Pass, I am going on holiday on 7 August and will not be on Twitter

So here is a *complete* explainer thread about COVID passes and QR codes for travel, especially for those travelling from 🇬🇧 to 🇪🇺🇨🇭🇳🇴🇮🇸🇱🇮, before I go!

🧵

🇪🇺 Digital COVID Pass scheme (that works in 🇪🇺🇨🇭🇳🇴🇮🇸🇱🇮) is a QR code based system to demonstrate your vaccination status

The code looks like this and - importantly - it does not matter HOW you show it. On paper, on a phone, laser etched into wood - it's your call!

For those 💉💉 in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 and Northern Ireland there is a similar system (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 has not been launched yet, will be similar)

A QR code demonstrates your vaccination status - example below

But 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 and Northern Ireland, and 🇪🇺 systems are not fully compatible

But there ARE workarounds

So what do you need to do before you travel?

🚨 IMPORTANT 🚨
Check the travel advice for the country you intend to visit. Due to the prevalence of Delta in 🇬🇧 some places are still closed to people travelling from there!

⚠️ BEWARE ⚠️
The documentation you need to get INTO a country, might well be more broadly defined than what you need to do anything once you are inside that country - to go to a library, restaurant or museum for example, where you need to demonstrate you have 💉💉

That is where the 🇪🇺 Digital COVID Pass is so important - the code issued to someone 💉💉 in 🇮🇹 can be used to get them into a museum in 🇪🇪, and someone 💉💉 in 🇵🇹 can eat in a restaurant in 🇫🇷 without problems

But 🇬🇧 isn't in it...

To the workarounds...

💉💉 in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿: get the NHS COVID Pass letter, or do it via NHS App
nhs.uk/conditions/cor…

💉💉 in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿: follow this
gov.wales/get-nhs-covid-…

💉💉 in Northern Ireland: guidance
nidirect.gov.uk/services/coron…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 issues letters w/o QR codes currently, QR forthcoming

Just as with the 🇪🇺 Digital COVID Pass, it does not matter what medium you choose - the important point is that you have the QR code having followed the relevant procedure

It can then be on paper, on a phone screen etc.

Then how you USE this depends on the country you are travelling to!

If you are travelling to 🇮🇪 and are 💉💉 in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 or Northern Ireland then

🥁 EVERYTHING WORKS 🥁

🇮🇪 Digital Covid Cert Checker can read your NHS code

You can try it here
app.digitalcovidcertchecker.gov.ie

If you are travelling to 🇫🇷 and are 💉💉 in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 or 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 then

🥁 EVERYTHING WORKS 🥁

🇫🇷 verifier app can read the QR code

You need a mobile app to test this - it's called TousAntiCovid Verif
iOS apps.apple.com/fr/app/tousant…
Android play.google.com/store/apps/det…

For some reason not yet understood, Northern Ireland QR codes do NOT work with TousAntiCovid Verif at the time of writing - but I expect that to be added soon

Likewise Scottish QR codes, whenever they are issued, ought to likewise be added to the verifiers in 🇫🇷 and 🇮🇪

❓BUT WHAT ABOUT APPS❓

Just as there is a NHS App to show your QR code, so 🇮🇪 & 🇫🇷 have their own apps for their citizens to demonstrate their vaccine status

You CAN put your NHS QR code into 🇮🇪's Covid Tracker Ireland App or 🇫🇷's TousAntiCovid App *but you don't have to*

But what about anywhere ELSE in 🇪🇺, or🇨🇭🇳🇴🇮🇸🇱🇮?

Those countries' verifier apps (think the app a museum would use to scan your QR code) currently show NHS QR codes as INVALID ❌ when scanning them

A full list of European verifier apps is here:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…

There is plenty of misinformation around this, because of confusion about what functions each app has

There are citizen apps (like TousAntiCovid 🇫🇷 or Corona-Warn-App 🇩🇪) and verifier apps (like TousAntiCovid Verif 🇫🇷 or CovPassCheck 🇩🇪) - ONLY the latter are relevant here!

So for example in 🇩🇪 if you scan a NHS QR code with Corona-Warn-App (the citizen app) it shows as valid... but if you try it in CovPassCheck it shows as invalid. And ONLY THE LATTER matters

And yes, some of the app design here is awful. But that's not my fault. Live with it

Does the fact that this works in 🇫🇷 help you in - say - 🇩🇪?

NO

Because a German venue will use the German verifier app CovPassCheck, not the French verifier TousAntiCovid Verif

NHS QR fails in CovPassCheck. So no Bratwurst 🌭

What do you do instead?

Some countries have gone further towards vaccine passports than others - 🇫🇷 most radical, 🇮🇹 & 🇩🇪 likely getting tighter. But in some places you might not need this at all

Also some venues *might* accept NHS paperwork even if the QR code shows INVALID

Medium term some other countries might unilaterally adopt the same route as 🇮🇪 & 🇫🇷 have and add NHS QR verification to their verifiers - but this is all going to be rather piecemeal I fear, and some places may never do it

For 3 countries - 🇩🇪🇮🇹🇳🇱 - there are further partial work-arounds

For 🇩🇪 try presenting your NHS vaccination documentation at a pharmacy, and they *can* issue a EU Digital COVID Pass for you (which then works 🇪🇺-wide 🎉) but some pharmacies refuse to do it. Keep trying!

For residents of 🇳🇱 nevertheless vaccinated outside 🇪🇺 there is a system in place:

https://twitter.com/MinVWS/status/1419993241995382792

A system is in the works for 🇮🇹 where travellers can register at a health practice, but I don't have any detail:

https://twitter.com/guglielmomeardi/status/1423005938206875648

To conclude: all of this is up to date on Friday 6 August. The detail for individual countries might change, but the principles here will not

This is going to remain a mess BECAUSE OF BREXIT

If 🇬🇧 just joined 🇪🇺 Digital COVID Pass no-one would have this mess

And *if in doubt, ask*

Detail of this thread has been compiled thanks to hours of work of - among others - @parispagesblog @Thomas06901916 @thatjohn @dolmenman1 @Etienne_Sheff - I owe all of them huge thanks

We're all in this together. Let's help each other out together!

/ends