Kovid in Europe: The European Union may update its Kovid certificate as infections increase. (file)
Brussels:
The EU Commission recommended on Thursday that the bloc’s vaccination certificate, which allows free travel for COVID-vaccinated Europeans, be valid only for nine months after the second dose.
The European Union is looking to update its COVID certificate, which has made travel easier within the bloc as a rise in COVID cases fears that cross-border movement may again be at risk.
EU Commissioner Didier Reynders said in a press briefing, “We propose a validity of nine months for the European Anti-Covid Certificate and after this period, its validity will not be recognized in the absence of a booster dose. “
This period takes into account guidelines by the European Centers 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 said.
The EU’s COVID certificate is seen as a success story in keeping cross-border travel open for vaccinated Europeans, providing a much-needed boost to the pandemic-stricken economy, especially the tourism sector.
The certificate, backed by legislation approved by the European Parliament, came into force in July and allows those traveling within the EU to prove that they were fully vaccinated, recently tested negative for COVID-19 , or was recovered from the coronavirus.
Its use bounced back to European summer destinations such as Greece, and many other non-EU countries, including the UK, have also plugged into the system.
But the winter has pushed people indoors as the number of cases climb in several EU countries, prompting some governments to begin easing restrictions.
Austria has a national lockdown, the Netherlands has a curfew for bars and Germany is set to announce new measures.
Several countries, including Greece, France and Germany, are moving toward requiring a third booster shot for someone to be fully vaccinated, noting that the effectiveness of current jabs diminishes after four or five months.
But, at the EU level, this would leave many, mainly eastern, member states out in the cold, with their relatively low vaccination rates even for a dose or two.
The recommendation of the EU executive would need to be approved by the member states as well as the European Parliament.
“This is a new recommendation, we will see what the response of member states will be,” Reynders said.
The issue is expected to be one of the main issues at the EU summit scheduled for December 16-17.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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