The acceptance period of the EU Digital COVID Certificate
According to the EU Regulation, recovery from COVID-19 is indicated on the COVID-19 certificate if the person has contracted COVID-19 before being fully vaccinated, which, in practice, in Finland means before receiving the first or second vaccination. In practice, recovery from COVID-19 can be indicated on the vaccine certificate in the following situations and in this order:
- 1 vaccination + recovery from COVID- 19 > certificate entry 1/1
- Recovery from COVID-19 + 1 vaccination > certificate entry 1/1
- (1 vaccination, no recovery from COVID-19 > certificate entry 1/2)
- 1 vaccination + recovery from COVID-19 + 1 vaccination > certificate entry 2/1
- Recovery from COVID-19 + 1 vaccination + 1 vaccination > certificate entry 2/1
- 1 vaccination + recovery from COVID-19 + 1 vaccination + 1 vaccination > certificate entry 3/1
- Recovery from COVID-19 + 1 vaccination + 1 vaccination + 1 vaccination > certificate entry 3/1
If you have contracted COVID-19 after the second vaccination, your recovery from COVID-19 will not be indicated on the certificate. In this case, the entry on the certificate will be either 2/2 or 3/3, depending on whether you have received 2 or 3 vaccinations.
What to do if a client cannot see vaccination data or the COVID-19 certificate in MyKanta
- Ensure that the client is searching information in the correct place in MyKanta and provide instructions accordingly.
- The data of the COVID-19 certificate is shown in the person’s own data. Please make sure that the person has logged in to their own data.
- The data of the COVID-19 certificate must be found in the Vaccinations section presented according to the vaccination protection in order to be able to produce the certificate. The data of a COVID-19 test result must be found in the Laboratory Tests section.
- The certificate is found in the COVID-19 Certificate section.
- If a parent or guardian has logged in to their own data and is attempting to view the data of their child, the data is shown in a different way. In many cases, the parent or guardian is not yet able to view the data of their child over 10 years of age.
- Tell the client when the information can be viewed in MyKanta, also taking into account the archiving practice of your own organisation.
- Find out the situation in your own organisation with regard to the archiving and retrospective corrections of vaccination data or test results.
- If the certificate or data cannot be seen, the matter shall first be investigated within the organisation.
- Make sure that all data has been entered in accordance with the instructions.
- Check whether the data has been entered in the Patient Data Repository and, if necessary, request help form the archivist who can check the situation using the Archivist’s User Interface.
- If the organisation cannot find a reason why the data cannot be viewed by the patient in MyKanta, the system supplier shall help in investigating the matter and, if necessary, issue a fault report to the Kanta Services.
The patient must not be advised to contact the Kanta Services.
- COVID-19 certificate: instructions for healthcare professionals (thl.fi)
- Frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 certificate
COVID-19 vaccinations
In order for the EU Digital COVID certificates to be produced, it is essential also in future that the vaccination data and test results recorded in the healthcare service are saved in Kanta in accordance with the national specifications and the documentation instructions of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
- Structured entry of COVID-19 vaccinations in the patient data system(thl.fi)
- COVID-19 vaccination entries in the Kanta Services and in the vaccination register by each service provider (thl.fi, in Finnish)
COVID-19 tests
The EU test certificate will be available in MyKanta after the result of the COVID-19 PCR or antigen sample has been entered in Kanta in accordance with the THL’s instructions. The instructions will be published on the THL website as soon as possible.
The negative test results corresponding to the data contents required by the EU will be valid for 72 hours after the latest negative sample result if the member country accepts the validity periods in accordance with the recommendations.
The certificate of recovery with EU data contents is valid for 180 days after a positive PCR sample result. From April 2022 the certificate can be created from an antigen test result since October the 1st 2021.
The healthcare organisations must ensure creation of documents and timely archiving in Kanta in cooperation with the system supplier. There must not be any delays in archiving in Kanta. Healthcare organisations that are aware of archiving delays must notify the clients in their area and provide instructions on obtaining an up-to-date test certificate.
Vaccination certificates issued by the healthcare service
If the client is not using MyKanta or if it is not technically possible to issue a certificate, the client shall be given a COVID-19 certificate from the healthcare service on request. This may happen, for example, to a minor or to a person who does not have a Finnish personal identity code.
Option for a healthcare professional to print out the EU Digital COVID Certificate
In the healthcare service, the EU Digital COVID certificate is printed from the patient data system, which retrieves the data from the Kanta Service. The certificate can be printed for customers who are unable to obtain the certificate from MyKanta. It is important that the healthcare units ensure that the interface between the patient data system and the Kanta Service is capable of retrieving a printable EU Digital COVID Certificate and that the certificate can be printed out from the patient data system used.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is preparing for the healthcare service a separate and temporary national printing and recording service for the purpose of printing the certificate for clients, if necessary, if the patient data system does not yet support retrieval of the certificate via the Kanta Services interface. The service will be provided for temporary use – the EU regulation on the COVID certificate is expected to be valid until end of June 2023.
The deployment schedule varies between organisations. As a rule, the users of the national printing and registering service are only public service operators that have already joined Kanta. The service is offered free of charge to public operators or to private operators who produce social welfare and healthcare services in public service operations on behalf of a public operator. The possibility of private service providers to obtain the right to use the national printing and recording service is currently investigated.
Printing with a temporary identification code
Persons who don’t have a Finnish personal identity code can be issued with a temporary identification code for the patient data system. The data recorded for a temporary identification code will also be entered in Kanta. The EU Digital COVID Certificate can be printed for persons with a temporary identification code only by the healthcare organisation that administered the client’s vaccine and where the temporary identification code has been produced. The certificate is printed out of the temporary national printing and recording service or from the patient data system if the system supports it at this stage. The certificate can be retrieved from Kanta using the temporary identification code.
THL’s instructions for social welfare and healthcare professionals
THL has compiled instructions for social welfare and healthcare professionals. The page includes instructions concerning, e.g. measures related to the treatment and prevention of a coronavirus infection and instructions for keeping patient records: