How can I reconcile my EU Digital Covid Certificate situation?

January 17, 2022 11:44 AM

I have two EU covid vaccine certificates from two different countries. I will be traveling soon, and my country of residence has a travel app that (I think) may not let me scan them to generate a QR code for re-entry. I'm not sure if/how I can reconcile this easily.

I was first vaccinated (two doses Pfizer) in Romania in June of 2021. Last week, I got a booster shot (one dose Moderna) in my country of residence, Spain.

My certificate from Romania was generated using my passport number as my personal identifier. My Spanish certificate was generated with my Spanish residency number.

I will be traveling out of Spain in a few weeks, and the app they use for fit-to-enter verification is *very* strict with ID numbers. It is not possible to attach multiple documents with differing ID numbers to the app. This feels like it's going to be a headache not only for this trip, but again in the future every time I try to use these things.

I considered going to inquire at my local health center, but they are deeply understaffed and overworked, and I'm not sure that they will understand the problem, or be able to issue a new certificate for me with another number.

Hope me? :)

posted by jpziller to Travel & Transportation around Spain (8 answers total)

Which ministry is in charge of the actual border control checks - the ministry of health or the interior? If the latter they might be able to answer your question, though whether they'll be less overworked is another matter. Even if it's the ministry of health, I'd try contacting them in addition to whatever health centers you can access. (And I'm not sure how the insurance system in Spain works, but you might also try asking your provider.)

Are there any local forums you can consult? It seems like it would be a not-uncommon problem for people who move around.

Are you going to be flying? And just to be clear, are you talking about some other country's fit-to-enter verification, or Spain's (i.e., the return trip)?
posted by trig at 12:02 PM on January 17, 2022

I got my first in Germany, second in France, third in Germany. Each one said which number it was. So 1/1, 2/2 and 3/3… so I don’t know why you need the ones from Romania?
posted by pairofshades at 12:04 PM on January 17, 2022

And you should be able to download another country’s Covid app to show vaccine status too… on my German corona-warn app I was able to download the French QR code. Also if you have the Romanian stickers in a yellow book, it could be that you are able to go to a pharmacy or vaccine clinic and they can print you new codes, they could do that at the vaccine clinic in France and they can do that at the pharmacies here.
posted by pairofshades at 12:07 PM on January 17, 2022

Do you have QR codes for all your vaccinations? I managed to get QR-codes from two different countries into the french app "anticovid". I'm not in France by the way and didn't get any vaccinations there.

You should be able to travel internationally with that app, I can't garantuee it as I haven't tried it myself.
posted by Kosmob0t at 12:29 PM on January 17, 2022

Response by poster: To clarify some of the questions asked:

1 - I am talking about the Spanish SpTH app, which will let me enter with *its* QR code. Nobody actually looks at the EUDCCs once they're in that app, and yes I'm talking about entering Spain. The country I am going to will just scan the QR codes as I supply them.
2 - I recieved a 2/2 from Romania when I was there, and I used my passport as ID
3 - I recieved a 1/2 from Spain on Thursday (*not* a 3/3), and they used my NIE (foreigner's ID number) as ID
4 - I can *only* use SpTH to enter Spain (or maybe have a long drawn out conversation in intermediate level Spanish, if I can get that far)

I have no idea if the Canary Islands is issuing 3/3s yet; that's where I'm based. When I showed them my 2/2 from RO initially, they just gave me a 1/2. Maybe this is the issue and I can get that reconciled at the local Centro de Salud.

Thank you all!
posted by jpziller at 12:39 PM on January 17, 2022

Right now, you should be able to return to Spain with your Romanian 2/2 certificate added in the SpTH app.

For the future though, at least it's the case in Catalunya, you will need to go to your CAP to sort this out and get them combined.
posted by gregjones at 12:56 PM on January 17, 2022

Also, again it could differ by CA, but the 3rd moderna dose after Pfizer has been a reduced dose, so they probably should have sorted this out when you received it, and it might complicate them reconciling it. Good luck!
posted by gregjones at 12:58 PM on January 17, 2022

When I was in France I accidentally was given a 1/2 when it should have been a 2/2… they were able to print a corrected QR form with no trouble at all- good luck! I wasn’t given any stickers in my yellow book in France and got a big talking to when I got back to Germany because evidently the EU codes won’t work anywhere else, but my panic resolved later… my name was also misspelled in France!

In the end we had it printed like 3 times. Good luck. These are difficult times.
posted by pairofshades at 9:09 PM on January 17, 2022