Vaccination against COVID done out outside the European Union (EU) Member States or countries that have not joined the single EU digital gateway shall be registered in the e-Health system of the Republic of Latvia if the individual is eligible for a state-paid Covid-19 vaccination in Latvia. If an individual has received an interoperable digital certificate in another EU Member State or country that has joined the single EU digital gateway, it is not necessary to register the fact of vaccination in e-Health system.
In the event that the country where the vaccination was performed has joined the aforementioned gateway but does not issue an interoperable vaccination certificate, the National Health Service shall recognize the fact of vaccination on the basis of the application.
The list of countries that have joined the EU's single digital gateway is published on the European Commission's website: https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/safe-covid-19-vaccines-europeans/eu-digital-covid-certificate_lv.
Currently, data on COVID vaccination in E-health can be entered for COVID vaccines registered by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and World Health Organization:
- Vaxzevria (COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca);
- COVID-19 Vaccine Spikevax (Moderna);
- COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen;
- Biontech-Pfizer Comirnaty;
- Covishield;
- Covaxin;
- BBIBP-CorV;
- CoronaVac (Sinovac);
- Covovax.
Data entry into the E-Health system enables the citizen to authenticate at the website www.covid19sertifikats.lv using one of the secure means of access and to create their digital COVID certificate.
If the vaccination certificate contains a QR code that can be read in Latvia:
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By writing to the E-address of the institution;
- Electronically by sending an application signed by safe electronic signature by e-mail to nvd@vmnvd.gov.lv;
- On the portal www.latvija.lv – using the e-service offered by the portal "Submission of a proposal, complaint, question, or request".
It should be noted that:
- The original proof of vaccination should be submitted to the NHS. After the application has been processed, the NHS will return it to the applicant.
- The application will be examined within one month upon receipt of the application.
A person may submit:
- International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis, the form of which has been defined and corroborated by the WHO International Health Regulations and ratified by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia in 2007 (https://likumi.lv/ta/lv/starptautiskie-ligumi/id/1592-starptautiskie-veselibas-aizsardzibas-noteikumi). Article 36 of these Regulations applies to vaccination and other prophylaxis for travelers and provides for the issuance of a vaccination or prophylaxis certificate.
- Other document (e. g. certificate or statement issued by the medical institution) containing the person's full name, personal identifier, name and serial number of the vaccine administered, date of vaccination, dose and number of vaccine received, as well as date of issue of the document, name of issuing authorities/company and full name of the issuer thereof. Sample certifications of other countries are available here.
Reliability of documents:
- The International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis is a secure and reliable document that does not require any additional attestation.
- The document that is issued in a member-state of the European Union, European Economic Area, Swiss Confederation or United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (except for its overseas territories), is reliable without additional attestation (legalisation or apostille).
- The document issued by a third country should be clear and contain all the necessary information for vaccination and should conform to one of the following samples: https://www.vmnvd.gov.lv/lv/citu-valstu-sertifikatu-paraugi.
- A document issued outside the European countries can also be certified according to this procedure and is then reliable and secure:
- if it is issued in a country that is a member-state of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, its authenticity may be certified by the competent authority of the foreign state which issued the document by apostille (an international certificate attesting the authenticity of the signature and legal capacity of the person signing an official document and the authenticity of the seal or stamp). A document certified with an apostille is valid for submitting to the Latvian authorities without any further attestation;
- if it is issued in a country that is not a member-state of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, it can be legalised by a competent authority of the respective country where the document was issued (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of a foreign country, diplomatic or consular mission) and then it should be legalised in the Consular Department of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs or in the Latvian diplomatic or consular mission in the respective foreign country.