European Commission proposes 9-month limit on validity of Covid-19 certificate

  • 2021-11-25
  • LETA/AFP/TBT Staff

BRUSSELS - The EU commission on Thursday recommended that the bloc's vaccination certificate, which has allowed free travel of Covid-vaccinated Europeans, be valid only up to nine months after a second dose.

"We propose a validity of nine months for the European anti-covid certificate and beyond this period, its validity would no longer be recognized in the absence of a booster dose," EU commissioner Didier Reynders said in a press briefing.

This period takes into account guidelines by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on booster doses after six months and leaves an additional three months to give countries time to adjust vaccination campaigns, Reynders added.

Several countries, including Greece, France and Germany, are moving towards requiring a third booster shot for someone to be considered fully vaccinated, given mounting evidence that the effectiveness of current jabs wanes after four or five months.

The recommendation by the EU executive would need to be approved by the member states as well as the European Parliament.

"It is a new recommendation, we will see what the reactions of the member states will be," said Reynders.

The issue is expected to be one of the main ones tackled at an EU summit scheduled for December 16-17.