Verifiable COVID-19 certificate ready on 11 June

Information in other languages (more languages will be published):

• PDF (02/06/21) شهادة الكورونا القابلة للتحقق من بياناتها ستكون جاهزة بحلول 11 يونيو / حزيران: Arabisk
• PDF (02/06/21)کارت قابل تائید واکسین کرونا به تاریخ ۱۱ ماه جون تهیه خواهد شد : Dari
• Polsk: Weryfikowalne zaświadczenie koronawirusowe gotowe 11 czerwca (02/06/21) PDF 
• Russisk: Верифицируемый коронавирусный сертификат будет готов 11 июня (02/06/21) PDF
• Somali: Shahaado koroona oo la hubin karo ayaa diyaar ah 11-ka  Juun (02/06/21) PDF 
• Tigrinja: ጽሩዩነቱ ክረጋገጽ ዝኽእል ወረቐት ምስክር ኮሮና ንዕለት 11 ሰነ ንኣገልግሎት ክዳሎ’ዩ (02/06/21) PDF 
• Tyrkisk: Doğrulanabilen korona sertifikası 11 Haziran’da hazır olacak (02/06/21) PDF 
• PDF (02/06/21) قابل تصدیق کورونا سرٹیفکیٹ 11 جون کو تیار ہو گا: Urdu

The reason that the COVID-19 certificate will have two display options is data protection. This means that users will not need to surrender more data than necessary. When used in Norway, it will rarely be necessary to show any other information than the fact that the certificate is valid. The COVID-19 certificate can be found at helsenorge.no, and may be downloaded to the user’s mobile phone or printed.

Bill regarding the COVID-19 certificate
‘The Norwegian Government sent a bill concerning the use of COVID-19 certificates out for consultation. We would like to create a system for secure and verifiable documentation of a person’s vaccination status, negative test results, and immunity after having had COVID-19’, says Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie.

The bill also means that the Ministry of Health and Care Services will be authorised to draft regulations in order to adapt the certificate scheme to the EU regulations. The Storting will review the bill and, if this process goes as planned, it can enter into effect for domestic use on 11 June. We will then have a verifiable COVID-19 certificate with QR codes that can be checked.

‘It is important for me to stress that the COVID-19 certificate will not be used to create barriers. It will be used to ease measures. For example, it can be used to allow people to attend larger events than what is permitted without a COVID-19 certificate’, states Mr Høie. 

COVID-19 certificate for international use 
The second display option for the COVID-19 certificate will allow border crossing in the EU and EEA. The pan-European solution will probably be ready at the beginning of July. People who have a digital Norwegian certificate will be able to begin using the current solution when entering Norway already from tomorrow Thursday 3 June at 12 pm.

‘The EU needs more information when borders are crossed, and there will be a need to distinguish between a person's vaccination status, whether they have had COVID-19, and their most recent test status. It will be necessary, for example, to display the name of the vaccine, the number of doses, and the vaccination dates. We are therefore designing an expanded section of the COVID-19 certificate for that purpose’, says Mr Høie.

The Norwegian Government still advises against all non-essential travel to all countries. This travel advice will be in effect until 1 July and will be reviewed before then. Any person who chooses to travel must familiarise themself with the quarantine and infection control rules for the country they are travelling to. This will vary from country to country. 

People travelling to Norway from abroad 
We are introducing a temporary arrangement until 11 June which means that travellers do not need to stay at a quarantine hotel, but can quarantine at home or other suitable accommodation if they can provide documentation from helsenorge.no at the border that they are vaccinated or have had COVID-19 during the past 6 months. The border police will be responsible for checking the digital information.

‘People will no longer have to stay at a quarantine hotel if they can log in to helsenorge.no at border control and show that they are vaccinated or have had COVID-19. If they need help to log in, the police can assist them. Printouts or documentation from other countries is not verifiable, and travellers that present such will need to stay at a quarantine hotel. This is a temporary solution from 3–11 June’, says Minister of Justice and Public Security Monica Mæland.

People who are able to present digital documentation from helsenorge.no that they are protected may leave the quarantine hotel and complete the rest of their quarantine at home. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security is working to develop practical solutions for this, and will provide more information as soon as possible.

The temporary arrangement will enter into effect on Thursday 3 June at 12 pm and will last until the certificate containing QR codes is ready. 

‘We already see that more people are travelling, and expect numbers to rise after these changes are implemented. It is therefore important to remind you of our advice to continue to avoid non-essential travel and, if you decide to travel despite this, you must expect long queues at the border. We still have border control and testing, and the police do not have unlimited resources’, stresses Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie.

From 11 June until the expanded certificate is ready at the beginning of July, protected people who live in Norway and return from abroad will be able to use the national solution at the border. Then they will be able to show the expanded display, which confirms that they are vaccinated or have had COVID-19. 

Non-digital users and certificate checks
Non-digital users can use the authorisation feature at helsenorge.no which allows them to authorise other people to print their COVID-19 certificate. Work is also being done on a solution for people who do not use a mobile, tablet, or PC so that they can be sent a printout of their COVID-19 certificate.

A technological solution is also being developed for use by the people who will be checking the COVID-19 certificate at the border or at events in Norway using the QR codes on the certificate. It will be tested this week.