From 1 February: Green certificates over 9 months become invalid for travel in Europe
In weeks, from February 1st, new rules on the validity of covid vaccination certificates will enter into force in the EU. Those who are older than 9 months will not be able to be used for travel within the union. The European Commission changed the rules at the end of last year due to large differences in the validity of vaccination certificates in different countries.
Those who do not have a booster dose will travel as before - using other forms of covid certification - PCR test or proof of recovery after covid.
In practice, this means that if: you have been vaccinated more than 9 months ago you do not have a booster dose after 1 February and you travel to another EU country – this will not mean that you are considered unvaccinated, but simply that your vaccination certificate cannot be used for travel if it is older than 9 months.
The nine-month validity period of the certificates issued after the primary vaccination will provide security when planning trips within the EU, according to the European Commission. It will also encourage states and citizens to start administering booster doses.
For the time being, certificates issued after the third dose will not be valid because there is still no scientific evidence of how long the protection lasts after booster vaccination.
As before, individual countries will be able to determine for themselves the validity of covid certificates when they are used for internal purposes - such as access to restaurants, museums, or other public places.
But Brussels is urging countries to comply with the new validity of the vaccination certificate when introducing internal rules, so as not to cause chaos.
“We continue to follow closely the measures taken by the Member States and call on them to take coordinated action. The covid certificate has proven to work well across the EU and has proven to work across Europe in all its forms - vaccination, test and post-disease recovery certificates. When we have more information about the new option, we will better coordinate the measures of the parties regarding it”, said Christian Wigand, spokesman for the European Commission.
As before, the period of validity of post-vaccination certificates will not be indicated in the documents.
Instead, from February 1, all mobile applications used to verify digital certificates will be adapted. If the date of vaccination is earlier than 9 months or 270 days, the mobile application used for verification will indicate that the certificate has expired.
In Bulgaria, there are already almost 500,000 people with a booster dose.
The green certificate for vaccination on the territory of Bulgaria has an unlimited term.
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