Alex Trelinski
EU COVID certificates will expire after 9 months if the holder has not received a booster vaccine dose.
The European Commission this Tuesday confirmed a decision taken by EU government heads last week over expiration dates.
The Commission says no member state can extend or reduce the expiration period because they want to ensure that ‘all Europeans equally enjoy the right to free movement’.
The EU decision is based on evidence showing that the efficacy offered by vaccines against COVID-19 significantly falls some six months after the first full immunisation.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recommends that the booster dose be inoculated within six months of completing the first programme of vaccines.
The certificate expiration move is also seen as a way of making sure that EU members push forward with booster programmes.
The Commission also says individual countries cannot bring in unilateral travel restrictions and instead they must be done in a coordinated way based on science and objective information.
A Commission statement said: “Maintaining coordination is essential for the functioning of the Single Market and will give security to Europeans in the exercise of their right to freedom of movement.”
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