The European Commission has set the digital certificate validity, issued after the end of the original COVID-19 vaccination scheme, for nine months, in order to travel within the Union. The measure will apply from 1 February and was taken to encourage the administration of booster doses in all Member States.

The Community Executive states that a clear and uniform period of acceptance regarding vaccination certificates is needed so that Member States can coordinate when taking action on travelling.

For a single dose vaccine, the nine months are calculated from the time of serum administration. In the case of a two-dose vaccine, the validity of the certificate shall begin after the admninistration of the second dose. Member States are not in a position to set a shorter or longer acceptance period, the European Commission still mentioned. The acceptance period will not be coded in the certificate itself, instead the mobile applications used for document verification will be adapted.

If the date of vaccination is older than nine months, the certificate shall be deemed to have expired. To date, more than 800 million such documents have been issued throughout the Union, according to the Commission. The European digital certificate has set a global standard, according to Brussels officials. Until now, 60 countries and territories on five continents have joined the system.

Translated by: Radu Matei