ARCHIVED - Complaints from vaccinated non-Spaniards in Catalunya unable to obtain Covid passports

Those not registered in the Catalan public health service have no access to online application procedures

Reports continue to proliferate regarding non-Spaniards who face problems related to coronavirus vaccination in this country, with some finding it difficult to receive their jabs and others encountering further difficulties after being given the second dose.

In many cases it has proved problematic for those who have opted for private rather than public health cover in Spain to receive their immunization jabs, but now some of those who have overcome this hurdle are finding it impossible to obtain the EU “Covid passport” which is needed for international travel. This is the case, for example, in Catalunya, where those with private health cover are not registered on the public health service system and therefore have no access to the “La Meva Salut” website through which applications for the Covid passport are made.

In April and May the government of Catalunya opened a register for non-Spaniards without public health cards in an effort to vaccinate everyone living in the region, and 5,700 people were duly inscribed on this register. However, they are now unable to download their vaccination certificates despite having received both doses.

This, it should be stressed, is not a case of non-Spaniards being daunted by the task of carrying out paperwork and bureaucracy in a foreign country: the regional government itself admits that at present “there is no procedure” by which these individuals can obtain the EU vaccination certificate online and advises them to seek help from their local health centres. Unfortunately, it is reported that although the staff there are keen to help they have no means of doing so.

In theory it is also possible for the Covid passport to be obtained through the national Ministry of Health, but this option is open only to those who have obtained an NIE identity number in Spain: others will find that this avenue is closed to them.

For those caught in this no man’s land, the most obvious consequence is that they are unable to travel without incurring the additional expense and inconvenience of PCR testing. However, some also speculate that it may soon be a universal requirement to show a Covid passport in order to enter restaurants and cultural or hospitality venues – this has already been introduced in some parts of Spain and in other countries - and that if a solution is not offered they will find themselves barred from all such establishments.

Meanwhile, frustrated foreign nationals, particularly those with private health insurance, are reporting similar experiences in other areas of Spain, and in the Murcia region, there are still many reports of foreign nationals unable to even get a vaccination in spite of multiple visits to health centres and filling in the form as requested on the regional health service webpage; they also face the same difficulty as is being reported by the Spanish media in Catalunya in obtaining the final certificate, and unfortunately, the additional cost this entails for thsoe wishing to travel.