More and more people are getting notifications on their cell phones that they should check the validity of their vaccination certificates. Because according to the app, the certificates will expire in a few weeks. FOCUS Online explains what the notification means for you.
“Check the validity of your certificates.” This message from the Corona-Warn-App is appearing to more and more users. And people who use the CovPass app to document their vaccination status if necessary sometimes get similar messages. Because the first of the vaccination certificates stored in the apps will expire in the coming weeks. FOCUS Online explains why and what that means for you personally.
There is no virological reason for the vaccination certificates to expire right now. Rather, there is a technical expiry date behind it, which was stored during programming last year.
At that time it was determined that the vaccination certificates should initially be valid for one year. This year is coming to an end for many in the coming weeks. On June 14, 2021, it was possible for the first time in pharmacies to have the certificates issued. Because the apps warn you about the expiry date 28 days before the expiry date, you may have already received a request to check your certificates.
“In order to be able to continue to prove your vaccination status, the relevant certificates must be updated,” writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Actually, there should already be a way to update the certificates yourself – but this has apparently not been the case so far. As reported by the Bavarian Pharmacists’ Association in a letter available to FOCUS Online, the RKI and the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) are still working on the necessary update. Until then, new certificates could be issued in pharmacies if desired.
In most cases, however, this is not necessary. After all, there are usually still a few weeks left before the certificates actually expire. “You will soon be able to carry out the necessary new issue yourself in the app with just a few clicks,” explains the Federal Ministry of Health when asked by FOCUS Online. “An update with the reissue feature will be available in the app stores before your certificates expire.”
