Finland's health authorities will add more information to the EU digital Covid-19 certificate this week.
According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, from Wednesday 14 July Covid-19 test results and certificates of recovery from the disease for travel are made available in the My Kanta Pages. The EU Covid-19 vaccination certificate - also known as vaccination passport or green certificate - has been available in the My Kanta Pages since 22 June.
The EU Digital COVID Certificate can be used when crossing borders within the EU. The aim is to facilitate safe and free movement. Each EU Member State can decide for itself on other uses of the certificate.
Finnish authorities recommend to find out before traveling which certificate is needed to cross the border of each destination country. An EU Covid-19 vaccination certificate may be sufficient in most cases.
- The EU Covid-19 vaccination certificate will be visible in your My Kanta Pages once you have been vaccinated. The certificate shows the name of your last vaccine, the date it was administered and the number of vaccine doses you have received. If you have received two doses, only the name of the second vaccine dose received will appear on the certificate.
- The EU Covid-19 test certificate will be visible in your My Kanta Pages once you have undergone a Covid-19 test and it has come back negative. The certificate in the My Kanta Pages is based on the results of your most recent test.
- The EU certificate of recovery from Covid-19 will be visible in the My Kanta Pages once you have recovered from the disease and your Covid-19 infection has been confirmed with a positive PCR test result. There are two types of Covid-19 tests: PCR tests and rapid diagnostic test (antigen tests). A rapid test result is not sufficient proof of recovery from Covid-19.
Covid-19 tests for travel
In Finland, Covid-19 tests carried out for the purpose of traveling abroad are mainly administered by private healthcare providers. These Covid-19 tests are subject to a fee and are generally expensive than in other EU countries.
For example at Helsinki Airport a rapid antigen test for travel purposes costs 179 euros (149 for families) at the time of writing this article, while in other countries the price varies from 40 to 100 euros.
However, tests undergone upon return to Finland are administered by public healthcare services and are free of charge. Authorities recommend to book return tests in advance using the FINENTRY service, for example.
The Finnish Social Security (Kela) will not reimburse for tests carried out by a private healthcare provider for the purpose of travel. Under the Health Insurance Act, Kela only reimburses tests for symptomatic persons and for those asymptomatic persons who are ordered by a doctor to undergo a test due to possible exposure as defined in the guidelines of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
All EU certificates are free of charge.
Travel 48 or 72 hours after sampling
The validity of the test result begins at the time of sampling or at the beginning of the day on which the sample was taken.
According to the recommendation in the EU Regulation, people who have received a negative test result may travel 48 hours after sampling in the case of a rapid test and 72 hours after sampling for a PCR test.
The recommendation states that a certificate of recovery from Covid-19 may be valid 11 days at the earliest and 180 days at the latest after the person has received a positive Covid-19 test result.
The Covid-19 vaccination certificate is valid for 12 months.
Travellers are responsible for determining the latest border crossing criteria in their destination country. The Re-Open Europe website compiles information on travel instructions and restrictions in place in the EU Member States.
