COVID-19 Vaccine Likely To Be Valid for 9 Months, Booster Shot Needed After: EU

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The European Union (EU) has recommended a nine-month time limit for the validity of COVID-19 vaccinations for travel into and within the EU countries. Further, EU has also proposed to prioritise vaccinated travellers.

The European Commission has proposed that the EU should continue receiving travellers who are fully vaccinated with vaccines approved by the bloc, as per a document accessed by Bloomberg.

Further, the EU has called for countries to reopen their borders for travellers by 10 January, who have taken vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The recommendation means that once the nine-month period after a person is vaccinated is over, booster shots will be needed. However, the EU said that it wasn’t ready for booster shot certificates to have a validity period, Bloomberg reported.

This effort by the EU to safeguard the ability to travel comes as a result of different countries having taken different approaches to curb the spread of the COVID-19 infection. The commission offers recommendations that could be implemented by member nations.

Concerned with the fourth wave of infections, EU countries have imposed different restrictions.

For instance, while Germany is considering compulsory shots for some vulnerable groups, Italy has imposed limits for unvaccinated people.

Meanwhile, Denmark is considering making face masks mandatory in public transport. In Austria, leisure travel has been restricted along with a three-week lockdown, Bloomberg reported.

Moreover, the EU is planning that from 1 March, it will discontinue its white list of countries from where all travellers are allowed regardless of vaccination status.

Starting April 2022, only vaccinated and recovered travellers with an EU digital COVID-19 certificate, or an equivalent pass, would be able to enter the bloc.

The proposals will now go to member nations for approval.

(With inputs from Bloomberg.)