Some people are currently receiving the warning message from the Corona-Warn-App or CovPass-App that their digital vaccination certificate is about to expire. There are technical reasons for this.
A valid certificate is required for verification. Control may not currently be in place in many countries, but this situation may change.
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We will tell you how you can easily update your vaccination certificate in the app and what you should consider when doing so.
Important: Expiration is about the technical validity of the proof. This was limited to 365 days when the digital vaccination certificate was introduced.
If the certificate were checked using a scan app, the proof would appear invalid, although the immunization is still legally valid. So that users can update their digital vaccination status in good time, the Corona apps send a notification 28 days before the expiry date. Currently and in the coming weeks, this affects people who were vaccinated in summer 2021.
Refreshing the digital vaccination card is relatively easy. A visit to the doctor or the pharmacy is not necessary. In the Corona-Warn-App you have up to 90 days after the expiration.
The “Renew certificates” function can be found in the certificate overview under the “Status verification” tile. If a certificate is currently not being used anyway because, for example, the certificate for the third vaccination is the current one, nothing needs to be done.
To make traveling in Europe easier, the European Union has introduced uniform standards for digital vaccination certificates. According to the relevant EU regulation, EU vaccination certificates remain valid for up to 270 days without a booster vaccination.
According to EU regulations, recovery certificates are valid for a maximum of 180 days after the day of the first positive test result. However, the member states can adapt this rule in each case.
Tip: Before entering the country, you can check on the “Re-open EU” page whether the respective destination country imposes entry restrictions or not. In the Corona apps, it is very easy to check whether the respective certificate is valid in the target country. In the Corona-Warn-App you go to a proof and then below to “Check travel validity”. The CovPass app says “Check Validity” at the top.
Now to the legal rules within Germany. If you are still considered “fully vaccinated” with two vaccinations (or one vaccination plus past infection), a third vaccination will be required from October 1, 2022 (or two vaccinations plus past infection).