A proposal from the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation to legitimise the National Certificate has been submitted to the Government. This National Certificate will help to free up many businesses and bring some people back to activities that are paralysed due to the quarantine restrictions.
‘As long as massive vaccination of the public has not started yet with current vaccination only available for priority groups, we are proposing a rational and effective way to allow businesses whose activities are restricted and people to return to work and to benefit from a range of various services as soon as possible. The idea of introducing the National Certificate may help here. This kind of National Certificate will allow to open sports clubs for a larger number of people, water amusement parks, renew inside catering and leisure services, organise larger events and celebrate personal holidays with more than two households present’, says Minister of the Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė.
The National Certificate will be an electronic document, i.e. the person will be given a QR code in his phone, which will show that the person has been vaccinated according to the requirements of immunologists, has a negative COVID-19 test or has had coronovirus and has acquired immunity according to the requirements of infectious disease specialists.
Medical staff will decide for how long tests will have to be carried out, as well as on the number of times a person will have to be vaccinated. The National Certificate idea may be implemented in the next 2-3 weeks, and based on the data of the eHealth system, the technical implementation of the National Certificate will be carried out by the Centre of Registers.
It is planned that the National Certificate to be introduced in Lithuania could later be integrated into the planned EU digital immunity certificate, which has been proposed by the European Commission at EU level.
According to Aušrinė Armonaitė, the introduction of the National Certificate enables thinking about businesses and also about a wider freedom of the society as people with recent negative COVID-19 test could engage in more activities, have more freedom, take part in sports and participate more actively in social life.
At present, due to the quarantine restrictions, restaurants, cafes (except for take away food), sports clubs, bars, nightclubs and other entertainment places are prohibited. All cultural, entertainment, sport events, festivals, fairs, festivals or other organised gatherings of people in public places are also prohibited.
Swimming pools, bathhouses, dance halls and cinemas are not allowed to operate either. Shops with no separate entrance from the outside may not operate in supermarkets.