Originally Posted by
goodeats21
What I hope is a simple question...
I am arriving Germany this weekend, direct flight from USA into FRA, then train to Cologne. Later that week, train to Berlin.
Is there a need, or a distinct advantage, to get the app and have a pharmacy validate my CDC vaccination card with it? I suppose it would be beneficial just on the horrific off-chance that I somehow manage to lose the original card...
Accepting that things are always subject to change, just trying to determine best course of action and what basically to expect.
10 days in Germany. The only place where I needed to show proof of vaccination was at a hospital. I used the digital pass, and they never actually scanned it. They up just looked at the barcode and compared the name shown below with the one on the paperwork I had to submit (I.e., not even ID).
So for a trip right now I would not worry.
That said, it is still very early in the rollout of the digital certs. Who knows what the rules and standard procedures will be in a few weeks or months? Perhaps it would be helpful to have for a future trip (and they are standardized for all of the EU+ now). So if I were you, I would ask for a digital certificate at a local pharmacy. Takes 10 seconds to get denied and 3 minutes if they do it. And it’s free. And there are pharmacies all over the place, so even if the first one won’t do it, just try another one.