The European Union will suggest a nine-month time limit on COVID-19 vaccine validity for travel within the bloc, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, 25 November.
The European Commission will also recommend that the bloc prioritise vaccinated travellers for entry.
The new proposals will seek to put a time limit on vaccine validity of nine months, after which a traveller will require a booster shot to be considered fully vaccinated.
According to a document seen by Bloomberg, the European Commission will also urge countries to reopen fully to vaccinated visitors from 10 January and will also recommend that from 1 March the white list of countries from where visitors are allowed arrive irrespective of vaccination status be ended.
In its place, a new policy will allow all vaccinated and recovered travellers will be allowed into the bloc so long as they have an EU Covid Cert or its recognised national equivalent.
The proposals are expected to be published later today.
EU member states are looking for clarity on how to best safeguard travel and are looking for a more coherent approach given that individual countries have different rules on vaccine validity and the management of booster shots.
Rules for Children
The new rules will also see unvaccinated children between 6 and 17 allowed entry into the EU so long as they have a negative PCR test. It’ll be up to individual countries to determine whether additional testing is required or a period of quaratine or self-isolation.
Once published, the proposals will be sent for approval by the European Council of Ministers.
