Last update: July 14th, 2021.
Slovakia has replaced its national COVID vaccine pass with the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC), also known as “green pass”.
Previous bilateral travel agreements between fellow EU states like Austria and the Czech Republic have allowed Slovak citizens to travel with the Slovak COVID pass. But citizens can now freely travel across Europe.
The state of emergency in Slovakia was terminated in May. But the country is still operating under an “extraordinary situation” framework, as declared in March 2020.
How to Get the Slovak COVID Passport
The official government COVID website (korona.gov.sk) features a portal with all the information needed for registration.
The EUDCC is available directly after a first vaccine dose has been received and is also valid for 180 days after recovering from COVID-19.
After taking a COVID test (PCR or antigen) or receiving a vaccine, the National Center for Health Information (NCZI) will send a 9-digit identification number via SMS or email.
The number is used to log onto the NCZI portal where users can generate the certificate and save it on the GreenPass app. It can also be printed out.
The certificate will be available in English and Slovak.
Possible system failures
Health Minister, Vladimír Lengvarský, has explained that the system has limited traffic capabilities which citizens should consider before registering.
“If two million people sign up on the first day to see whether it works, it will not work,” he said.
To eliminate a bottleneck effect, people should consider their immediate travel needs before registering for the certificate.
Current COVID-19 health situation in Slovakia
The highest rate of daily new infections was seen during the winter of 2020 but these figures have sharply declined since April.
Less than 50 new cases per day have been recorded during July bringing the country’s total number of infections to just under 400,000.
The vaccine rollout started slowly in Slovakia but inoculation figures have grown steadily since April. By mid-July, almost 4,000,000 doses had been distributed, with some 33% of the population fully vaccinated.
Slovakia has recently sold back nearly 200,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine to Russia after Slovaks have shown a stark lack of interest in the jab.
The country has to date only administered vaccines approved by the EU and became the second country after Hungary to make the bold move of purchasing Sputnik V.