The European Union said Thursday that the Covid-Pass for cross-border travel will expire nine months after the last dose of the vaccine. An additional dose will be required to renew the certificate.
In a travel advisory released Thursday, the European Commission updated the COVID-Pass rules that have been in effect since early summer to accommodate the ongoing surge in coronavirus and the rollout of additional vaccinations.
According to proposed amendmentThe Covid-Pass, called the EU digital certificate COVID Pass, will only be valid for trips across the block for nine months after the last dose of the so-called “primary batch” vaccine: one dose for Johnson & Johnson or two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
Recently released data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show that vaccine protection wanes after the first six months, and recommend get the 3rd booster vaccine to prolong immunity after this period.
The European Commission says three additional months on top of six will give EU countries more flexibility in their vaccination campaigns. Health policy is a national responsibility and each country develops its own vaccine introduction. However, its procurement is carried out centrally by the EU, through general procurement agreements.
Management is currently evaluating data on how long the booster (third) injection will last.
In addition to proof of vaccination, a certificate can also be obtained with a negative coronavirus test carried out in the last 72 hours, or a certificate of recovery.
The basic rules of the system will remain unchanged: Pass holders are entitled to exemption from travel restrictions such as testing and quarantine, regardless of the EU country from which they come.
Citizens who do not have a certificate will be allowed to travel but may be subject to additional requirements before or after their arrival. Children over 12 years of age must follow the same rules as adults.
“It is very clear that the pandemic is not over yet,” said Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice. “Travel regulations must take into account this volatile situation.”
The recommendation should be accepted by the 27 EU countries, some of which have publicly pushed the executive to change the rules and abolish booster injections. Reinders hopes the updated uniform will be rolled out by early January.
The European Commissioner also said that the EU is abandoning its country-by-country approach to the pandemic and is now focusing on an individual strategy. It will combine the number of new infections, vaccine coverage and testing levels to determine the high and low rates of the so-called. risk zones. “This takes into account [тот факт, что] vaccinated people are better protected from the virus, ”Reinders said.
Today, over 76% of the EU adult population is fully vaccinated, although important differences between member states remain ingrained, especially in eastern Europe.
The EU digital pass went into effect on 1 July for an initial period of 12 months, and it is hoped that the pandemic will end by next summer. Brussels sees this scheme as a success story: to date, more than 650 million certificates have been issued and 51 countries, including the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Singapore, are connected to the system.
Nevertheless divergent across the block, booster vaccinations can confuse citizens. In parallel with the EU-wide certification, most member states have introduced the use of green passes allowing entry into enclosed spaces such as bars, restaurants and cinemas.
Despite the fact that national and European certificates are connected to the same IT infrastructure, the rules of use in practice are different. The EU system only applies to cross-border travel and does not affect how the government can use its health pass on its territory.
New recommendation has appeared on the same day, when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorized the use of Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, but did not take into account the situation with the new mutation Omicron…
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