If you’ve taken the time to get your Medicare account linked to your MyGov account, and you’re fully vaccinated for COVID-19 you can now download a Certificate of Vaccination that will allow you to travel internationally once again!
Launched this morning, the certificate is a simple, yet powerful tool for International Border Agencies to validate the vaccination status of travellers at the point of entry.
How do I get my COVID-19 Vaccination Passport?
This one is a bit old school, simplistic. It’s a bit of paper you can carry with you when you travel – or save on your phone of course.
Firstly, head to the Medicare website (or use the Express Plus Medicare App) where you will use your MyGov account to login. You will have all this sorted if you’ve done any of the digital certificate work regarding proof of vaccinations.
Now, on the Proof of Vaccination page, you simply choose the new “Request a certificate” option under the title International COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate.
Next up, you’ll need to confirm which member of the Medicare “household” the certificate is for
After which you’ll see and confirm the vaccination history for that individual medicare account.
Finally, confirm how you plan to link your vaccination status to your international travel document.
Most will choose an Australian Passport, however, for those in Australia vaccinated here but travelling on an International Passport on a valid Aussie visa, there’s also an option here too:
Finally, enter your passport details for validation.
These details need to be 100% accurate and match with the Passport data, or you will be rejected.
Done that? Easy – now you can see, download and print your Vaccination Certificate:
This seemingly crude document is actually a protected dataset that can be scanned and decrypted for validation.
The code itself does contain “publicly” your Passport Number and your dates of vaccination, however that information can only be validated by a system using the VCS-NC standard for cross-border COVID-19 Certificates which is a highly secure QR code protected by a ICAO public-key encryption – the same used in ePassports.
Bottom line because of course that’s what the stories will be, yes, you could fake the QR code and show your Vaccination dates, but no Customs or Immigration officer will let it pass because you can’t fake the validation key that’s also within it.
Happy travels folks!
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts two popular podcasts, EFTM and Two Blokes Talking Tech. He also appears on over 50 radio stations across Australia weekly, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show each day and appears regularly on A Current Affair.
Father of three, he is often found down in his Man Cave.
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