Ordinance
on Certificates to Prove
COVID-19 Vaccination, COVID-19 Recovery
or a COVID-19 Test Result
(COVID-19 Certificates Ordinance)

This Ordinance regulates:

1. the form, content, issuance and revocation of the following COVID-19 certificates to prove:

   1. vaccination against COVID-19 (COVID-19 vaccination certificate),

   2. recovery from Sars-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19 recovery certificate),

   3. a negative result following Sars-CoV-2 test analysis (COVID-19 test certificate);

2. the specifications for verifying these certificates;

3. the recognition of corresponding foreign certificates;

4. the information systems operated by the Confederation in connection with these certificates;

5. the apps offered by the Confederation for certificate holders and checkers;

6. the tasks of the cantons in connection with issuing and revoking certificates;

7. ²the payment of costs by requesting persons.

Any person wishing to obtain a COVID-19 certificate must submit a request to an issuer specified in Article 6 or 7.

The issuer shall inform the requesting person about:

1. the type and extent of the data processing required to create and sign the COVID-19 certificate;

2. the conditions under which the issued certificate is revoked.

The issuer shall verify the identity of the requesting person, with presentation of an identity document for this purpose where necessary.

The issuer shall transmit the information to be included in the certificate to the system operated by the Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication (FOITT) for issuing COVID-19 certificates in accordance with Article 26.

The system generates the certificate. It shall transmit it to the issuer, provided the issuer is responsible for transmitting or delivering the certificate to the requesting person.

The issuer shall ensure the rapid and secure transmission or delivery of the COVID-19 certificate to the requesting person.

The issuer is responsible for compliance with data protection requirements during transmission and delivery. In particular, it must be ensured that third parties are unable to obtain knowledge of the information contained on the certificate.

The Confederation may propose to the cantons that it take care of printing the certificates in hard copy and transmitting certificates to requesting persons.

It shall charge the cantons for the costs of printing and transmitting COVID-19 vaccination certificates of people vaccinated from 15 July 2021 onwards.³

The cantons and the Surgeon General shall designate the respective issuers for the various types of COVID-19 certificates.

Issuers shall be natural persons who:

1. have the necessary expertise to assess the requirements for issuing certificates;

2. use IT systems and products that allow issuers to be uniquely identified and securely authenticated;

3. guarantee compliance with the applicable law and in particular with this Ordinance.

The cantons and the Surgeon General shall notify the FOITT of the designated issuers. Notification shall include the following information:

1. first name, surname, address, email address and telephone number of the issuer;

2. details of the identification provider used and the identifier this provider uses to identify the person concerned;

3. details of which certificates the issuer is authorised to issue;

4. the date on which designation becomes valid and expires.

The designated issuers may call on the services of other persons to whom they have the right to give instructions in order to issue certificates. They shall be responsible for the acts and omissions of these persons.

The cantons and the Surgeon General shall supervise the issuance and revocation of certificates by the issuers in accordance with the applicable federal and cantonal regulations.

They shall revoke such designation if there are clear indications that the issuer no longer meets the requirements. They shall notify the FOITT of the revocation of a designation.

The cantons and the Surgeon General shall ensure that in the following cases requests for a COVID-19 vaccination certificate or COVID-19 recovery certificate pursuant to Article 16 paragraph 1 are processed, even if an issuer under Article 6 has no access to the relevant medical history or primary documentation for this purpose:⁴

1. if the person received the vaccination or recovered from the illness in Switzerland;

2. if the person received the vaccination or recovered from the illness abroad:

   1. in the case of Swiss citizens,

   2. in the case of foreign nationals who are entitled to enter Switzerland under Article 4 of the COVID-19 Ordinance of 19 June 2020⁵ and can credibly demonstrate that they are planning to enter Switzerland or are already in Switzerland.⁶

They shall designate at least one issuer for dealing with such requests.

The request for issuance of a COVID-19 vaccination certificate or COVID-19 recovery certificate under paragraph 1 must be submitted in an official language of the canton, in English or an officially certified translation into one of these languages must be provided together with the documents listed in Articles 13 paragraph 2 letter c and 16.⁷

If there is any doubt as to whether the documents submitted are genuine, the issuer may:

1. demand that the requesting person:

   1. appear in person,

   2. submit officially certified documents,

   3. submit the information or documents required to assess the request;

2. obtain further information from the competent foreign authorities in compliance with Article 62 of the Epidemics Act of 28 September 2012⁸.⁹

If there is still doubt as to whether the documents submitted are genuine despite taking the foregoing measures, the issuer may decline the request. In such an event, the requesting person is not entitled to a refund of any fee paid.¹⁰

For the purpose of issuing COVID-19 recovery certificates, the cantons may use an automated procedure to retrieve information on the requesting person's recovery from the information system in accordance with Article 60 of the Epidemics Act of 28 September 2012¹¹ and compare it with the information in the request.

For this purpose, they may provide the requesting person with an electronic request form supplied by the Confederation.

If the comparison with the data retrieved from the information system shows that the requirements for issuing a certificate are met, the system for issuing COVID-19 certificates (Art. 26) shall generate the certificate.

If the result of the comparison is unclear or negative, the competent cantonal body shall contact the requesting person and manually check whether the requirements for issuing a certificate are met.

The cantons shall ensure that the requesting person may also submit the request in hard copy or in any other suitable form.

The requesting person may choose to have the COVID-19 certificate issued in hard copy or electronic format.

The COVID-19 certificates bear a regulated electronic seal of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) as the means of verification of the authenticity and integrity of the information.

Both forms of certificate display the content as a human-readable text and two-dimensional machine-readable code (barcode). However, the barcode and the data stored in it in sealed electronic format are also considered to be a certificate.

Certificates are issued in an official language of the Confederation as chosen by the requesting person and in English.

They contain a unique certificate identifier.

The issuers specified in Articles 6 and 7 and the competent cantonal authorities shall revoke a COVID-19 certificate at the request of the holder if the holder credibly demonstrates that:

1. the certificate contains incorrect information; or

2. errors have repeatedly occurred when verifying the authenticity, validity or integrity of the certificate.

A revocation request must contain the following:

1. the unique certificate identifier;

2. information on the identity of the holder, insofar as is necessary to assess the grounds for revocation in accordance with paragraph 1, as well as the further details required to assess the grounds for revocation.

Even in the absence of a request, issuers are obliged without delay to revoke the certificates they have issued which do not meet the requirements of this Ordinance or which attest to facts which turn out to be incorrect.

The FOITT and the competent cantonal authorities shall revoke certificates in the issuer's place if the issuer fails to do so within a reasonable period in accordance with paragraphs 1 or 3.

Issuers, the FOITT and the competent cantonal authorities shall revoke certificates in the system for issuing COVID-19 certificates (Art. 26), which shall transmit the identifiers of the revoked certificates to the system for retrieving revoked certificates (Art. 27).

Issuers, the FOITT and the competent cantonal authorities shall document the revocation of certificates with the following information:

1. the unique certificate identifier;

2. information that makes it clear why the decision to revoke the certificate was made.¹²

The requesting person shall not be charged for the issuance or revocation of COVID-19 certificates with the exception of the cases specified in paragraph 2 and Article 26a paragraph 3.¹³

The cantons may make provision for issuers to charge an appropriate share of the cost in the following cases:

1. when a certificate has to be reissued repeatedly due to loss;

2. when issuing a certificate to persons in accordance with Article 7 paragraph 3 who do not have a place of residence in the canton concerned or, in the case of Swiss citizens living abroad, do not have their last place of residence or their home commune in the canton concerned.¹⁴

All COVID-19 certificates shall contain the following information in accordance with Annex 1:

1. details of the identity of the holder;

2. details of the electronic seal issuer;

3. ¹⁵...

COVID-19 certificates in human-readable form shall also contain the following information:

1. a general statement on the meaning of the certificate in accordance with Annex 1 number 3;

2. ¹⁶in the case of a COVID-19 vaccination certificate pursuant to Article 15 paragraph 3 a COVID-19 recovery certificate pursuant to Article 16 paragraph 3 ...¹⁷: a reference to the certificate being valid for a limited period and only in certain geographical areas.¹⁸

A COVID-19 vaccination certificate shall be issued for vaccines that:

1. are authorised in Switzerland;

2. are authorised by the European Medicines Agency for the EU in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 726/2004¹⁹;

3. are authorised in accordance with the WHO Emergency Use Listing; or

d. can be shown to have the same composition as a vaccine authorised in accordance with letters a, b or c, but which is marketed by the licence holder under another name (licensed products).²⁰

A COVID-19 vaccination certificate shall be issued for each dose:

1. at the time of vaccination;

2. subsequent to the vaccination if the administration of the vaccine, including the information in accordance with Article 14, is evident from the medical history or primary documentation that the issuer has on the person requesting the certificate;

3. subsequent to the vaccination if no medical history or primary documentation is available and the administration of the vaccine, including the information in accordance with Article 14, can be reliably established from one of the following supporting documents:

   1. an international certificate of vaccination in accordance with the model in Annex 6 to the International Health Regulations (2005) of 23 May 2005²¹, indicating the vaccine administered and bearing the signature and stamp of the body responsible,

   2. confirmation of vaccination issued by a cantonal vaccination centre,

   3. a vaccination record indicating the vaccine administered and bearing the signature or stamp of the body responsible in Switzerland,

   4. any other Swiss or foreign document equivalent to one of the documents mentioned in numbers 1 to 3.

...²²

In the case of vaccines and their licensed products that are not authorised for Switzerland nor for the EU but which are permitted under the WHO Emergency Use Listing, a certificate may be issued to persons in the following categories provided the person concerned attends in person at the issuer's office:

1. Swiss citizens;

2. foreign nationals holding a short stay permit, residence permit, settlement permit or cross-border commuter permit in accordance with Articles 32–35 of the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act of 16 December 2005²³ (FNIA);

3. persons temporarily admitted under Article 83 paragraph 1 FNIA;

4. persons requiring protection in accordance with Article 66 of the Asylum Act of 26 June 1998²⁴;

5. persons seeking asylum who hold a permit or confirmation of their status in accordance with Article 30 of Asylum Ordinance 1 of 11 August 1999²⁵;

6. holders of a legitimation card in accordance with Article 17 of the Host State Ordinance of 7 December 2007²⁶;

7. holders of a Ci permit in accordance with Article 22 paragraph 3 of the Host State Ordinance.²⁷

COVID-19 certificates in accordance with paragraph 2 letter c may only be issued by the issuers specified in Article 7 if the person concerned has been vaccinated in full in accordance with Annex 2 number 3.²⁸

In addition to the general content of all COVID-19 certificates, COVID-19 vaccination certificates shall contain the details in accordance with Annex 2 on the COVID-19 vaccination carried out, and in particular whether the vaccine has been administered in full.

The start and duration of the validity of COVID-19 vaccination certificates are governed by Annex 2.

The period of validity begins at the earliest on the day on which the final dose is administered, provided the vaccine is administered in full in accordance with the requirements of Annex 2.³⁰

In the case of persons that do not belong to any of the categories specified in Article 13 paragraph 2^ter, COVID-19 vaccination certificates for vaccines and their licensed products that are neither authorised for Switzerland nor for the EU but which are permitted under the WHO Emergency Use Listing are valid only in Switzerland and for a maximum of 30 days from issuance; the validity of such certificates otherwise ends in accordance with the provisions of Annex 2 number 1.2.³¹

A COVID-19 recovery certificate shall be issued when a person has been infected with Sars-CoV-2 and has recovered. The finding that the person has been infected with the virus must be based on the positive result of a molecular-biological analysis for Sars-CoV-2.

A request for the issuance of a COVID-19 certificate that cannot be processed under the automated procedure for issuing COVID-19 recovery certificates pursuant to Article 8 must be accompanied by the following documents:

1. proof of a positive molecular-biological analysis for Sars-CoV-2 that includes the following information:

   1. the requesting person's surname, first name and date of birth,

   2. the date and time at which the sample was taken,

   3. the name and address of the test centre or the institution where the test was carried out;

2. confirmation of termination of isolation or a medical certificate confirming recovery from a competent authority with official duties, including the name and address of this authority.³²

A COVID-19 recovery certificate shall be issued to persons who have tested positive for Sars-CoV-2 antibodies provided:

1. the sample was taken in Switzerland by a facility specified in Annex 6 number 1.3.2 letter a of the COVID-19 Ordinance 3 of 19 June 2020³³;

2. the analysis was carried out in Switzerland by a facility specified in Annex 6 number 1.3.2 letter b COVID-19 Ordinance 3;

3. the sample was taken after 15 November 2021;

4. a clearly positive serology was detected by analysis using a CE-marked certified immunoassay in the form of a quantifiable result.³⁴

COVID-19 recovery certificates pursuant to paragraph 3 may only be issued by a facility specified in Annex 6 number 1.3.2 letter a of the COVID-19 Ordinance 3 or by a facility specified in Annex 6 number 1.3.2 letter b of the COVID-19 Ordinance 3 that has been instructed by a facility specified in Annex 6 number 1.3.2 letter a of the COVID-19 Ordinance 3 to carry out the analysis.³⁵

In addition to the general content of all COVID-19 certificates, COVID-19 recovery certificates shall specify that the holder contracted COVID-19 or tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, as well as the dates on which the samples were taken and the analyses in accordance with Annex 3 number 2 were carried out.

The start and duration of the validity of COVID-19 recovery certificates are governed by Annex 3.

A COVID-19 recovery certificate pursuant to Article 16 paragraph 1 shall be valid at the earliest from the eleventh day after infection was confirmed by the positive result of a molecular-biological analysis for Sars-CoV-2.³⁷

A COVID-19 recovery certificate pursuant to Article 16 paragraph 3 shall be valid at the earliest from the day on which the sample was taken.³⁸

COVID-19 recovery certificates pursuant to Article 16 paragraph 3 are only valid in Switzerland.³⁹

COVID-19 recovery certificates pursuant to Article 16 paragraph 1 shall contain an expiry date that is compatible with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2021/953⁴⁰. Under Annex 3 number 1.2 letter a, they may remain valid beyond the date specified.⁴¹

A COVID-19 test certificate shall be issued in the event of a negative result of:

1. a molecular-biological analysis for Sars-CoV-2;

2. ⁴²a Sars-CoV-2 rapid test for specialist use in accordance with Article 24a of the COVID-19 Ordinance 3 of 19 June 2020⁴³, unless it is based on a sample taken only from the nasal cavity or on a saliva sample.

The FOPH shall maintain an updated list of Sars-CoV-2 rapid tests in accordance with paragraph 1 letter b, and publish it on its website⁴⁴.⁴⁵

In derogation from paragraph 1, no certificates shall be issued for analyses for Sars-Cov-2 in respect of which the Confederation pays the costs in accordance with Annex 6 numbers 1.1.1 letters a–e h, i number 1 and j, 1.2.1, 1.4.1 letters a–e, h number 1, i and m, 2.1.1 letter c, 2.2.1 letter c, 3.1.1 letter c and 3.2.1 letter c of the COVID-19 Ordinance 3.⁴⁶

Requests for test certificates may be submitted at the latest when the sample is taken.

In addition to the general content of all COVID-19 certificates, COVID-19 test certificates shall contain information on the test carried out in accordance with Annex 4.

COVID-19 test certificates shall be valid from the time they are issued.

The duration of validity is governed by Annex 4.

It shall be a maximum of 72 hours from the time the sample was taken.

The recognised vaccination, recovery and test certificates issued by a member state of the European Union (EU) or a state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are listed in Annex 5.

The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) shall update Annex 5 continuously in consultation with the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).⁴⁷

It shall include in the Annex certificates that were issued in accordance with the provisions applicable in the EU and whose states of origin grant reciprocal rights. However, it may decide not to include certificates for vaccines that are not authorised for the EU by the European Medicines Agency in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004⁴⁸.

The recognised foreign certificates attesting vaccination, recovery or testing that have not been issued by an EU or EFTA member state are listed in Annex 5.

As soon as the European Commission makes a decision regarding the equivalence of one or more interoperable certificates from third countries, the FDHA shall update Annex 5 accordingly. However, it shall only accept certificates from the third countries listed in Annex 5, which grant Switzerland reciprocal rights.⁴⁹

It may include certificates from other states provided the following requirements are met:

1. The foreign certificate contains the information specified in Article 12 and in Articles 14, 17 or 20 in conjunction with the relevant annexes.

2. The information under letter a can be checked electronically for authenticity, integrity and validity.

3. Requirements equivalent to those under this Ordinance apply to the issuance of the respective certificates.

It shall delete those certificates that no longer meet the requirements from the list.

Recognised foreign certificates shall be equivalent to the COVID-19 certificates issued in accordance with this Ordinance. In particular, the apps for storing and verifying certificates (Arts. 28 and 29) shall treat them as certificates issued in accordance with this Ordinance.

The FOITT shall operate an information system that is used to do the following with signature certificates in order to check the authenticity, integrity and validity of electronic signatures of COVID-19 certificates:

1. exchange them with corresponding foreign systems, particularly within the framework of the EU Digital COVID Certificate system of the European Union;

2. make them available to the apps that are used to store and verify certificates.

Signature certificates for the following COVID-19 certificates are not delivered to foreign systems:

1. COVID-19 vaccination certificates pursuant to Article 15 paragraph 3;

2. COVID-19 recovery certificates pursuant to Article 16 paragraph 3;

3. ... .⁵⁰

The FOITT shall operate an information system for generating, transmitting and revoking COVID-19 certificates.

The personal data of requesting persons may not be retained for longer than is necessary for generating, signing and transmitting the certificate, or for revoking it.

In order to detect and prevent misuse and for the purpose of any subsequent revocation of certificates, the system shall log which issuer retrieved which certificates and when.

The FOITT shall operate a system that can be used to submit requests under Article 7 paragraph 1 letter b and by issuers to process these requests.

The system shall allocate the requests as follows:

1. requests for the issuance of a certificate to a person resident or with place of origin in Switzerland: to the canton of residence or in the case of Swiss citizens living abroad, to the last canton of residence, or, if the person has never been resident in Switzerland, the canton in which the place of origin is located;

2. requests for the issuance of a certificate to a person who does not fall under letter a: to the canton in which the person spends or plans to spend their first night in Switzerland.

The Confederation shall charge the issuer in advance a fee of 30 francs for processing a request for the issuance of a certificate to a person pursuant to paragraph 2 letter b. It shall pass on the revenues from this fee to the canton at the end of each quarter. Requests for which no fee has been paid may be declined. The provisions of the General Fees Ordinance of 8 September 2004⁵² also apply.

The requests, the documents submitted and the unique certificate identifier shall be retained for 30 days and then deleted from the system.

The FOITT shall operate a system that is used to retrieve revoked certificates and contains the unique certificate identifier for this purpose.

The list of revoked certificate identifiers shall be made available to apps used for checking and storing COVID-19 certificates.

The FOITT shall provide software that the holders of COVID-19 certificates can install on their mobile telephones or similar devices and use for the secure transmission and electronic storage of the certificates.

The following principles apply to the software:

1. It may disclose the contents of certificates or make statements about it solely with the holder's consent in the individual case.

2. The contents of certificates must be protected against unauthorised access by means of appropriate measures.

3. The FOITT shall publish the source code and technical specifications for the software it makes available.

The app for storing COVID-19 certificates shall enable holders to obtain a certificate with data minimisation for use in Switzerland.

To do so, the holder uses the app to send a COVID-19 certificate to the system for issuing COVID-19 certificates. If the certificate sent is valid, the system generates the data-minimised certificate and send it to the storage app.

The certificate with data minimisation contains:

1. the general content in accordance with Article 12 letter a and Annex 1 section 1;

2. the designation of Swiss COVID-19 certificate with data minimisation;

3. the expiry date.

The period of validity of the certificate with data minimisation shall correspond to the shortest period of validity of COVID-19 test certificates in accordance with Annex 4; however, it shall end in any case when the underlying certificate expires.

The FOITT shall provide one or more software programs that can be installed on mobile telephones or similar devices and used for the electronic verification of the authenticity, integrity and validity of COVID-19 certificates, including certificates with data minimisation, and corresponding foreign certificates.⁵⁵

The following principles apply to the software programs:

1. They shall verify the authenticity, integrity and validity of COVID-19 certificates without transmitting or storing personal data.

2. They shall verify foreign certificates according to the rules applicable to COVID-19 certificates.

3. They shall issue the result of the verification solely in the following form:

   1. verification successful (green background) or unsuccessful (red background) and, if applicable, information on the reasons for the failure of verification;

   2. information in accordance with Annex 1 that allows the certificate to be assigned to the holder.

4. They can verify the authenticity, integrity and validity of the certificates without being connected to the internet at the time of verification; however, the verification of validity requires an updated list from the system for retrieving revoked certificates, which requires an internet connection.

5. The FOITT shall publish the source code and technical specifications for the software programs it makes available.

Any person who is shown a certificate for verification may not retain it or the information read from it or use it for any purpose other than verification. The foregoing does not apply to storing information on the period of validity of certificates at facilities that may only be accessed by persons who have personal authorisation for repeated access. The data subject must be appropriately informed about the nature and extent of the data processing and must expressly consent to that processing.⁵⁶

Users shall log on to the system for issuing COVID-19 certificates via the Federal Administration's central access and authorisation system for web applications. The provisions of the Ordinance of 19 October 2016⁵⁷ on Federal Identity Management Systems and Directory Services (IAMO) apply.

The FOITT may go beyond Article 21 of the IAMO and connect other external IAM systems to the Confederation's IAM systems, provided these allow for secure identification.

It may deny or revoke access especially in the event of concerns about ICT security.

The FOITT is the federal body responsible under the data protection legislation for:

1. the implementation of the necessary technical and organisational measures for the systems it operates;

2. the apps it makes available.

The Confederation shall bear the costs of the procurement and operation of the information systems, and of the provision of the apps.

It shall not collect any fees for the use of the systems and apps.

In consultation with the FDF and the FDFA, the FDHA shall update Annexes 1 to 4 in accordance with the internationally harmonised standards in order to achieve interoperability with the certificates of as many states as possible and international recognition of the certificates issued in accordance with this Ordinance.

The FDHA shall be responsible for concluding international treaties for the adoption of delegated and implementing acts issued by the European Commission for the development and technical implementation of the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

This Ordinance comes into force on 7 June 2021 at 00.00 and applies until 31 December 2022.