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On April 26, covid certificates changed their validity again. Passports of people who have received the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are valid indefinitely. In theory, this is good news. Practically, it causes a lot of problems, especially at airports. In some countries our passports of unlimited duration may not be respected.
- The EU COVID Certificate (UCC) is a document certifying vaccination against COVID-19. People who have received at least two doses of the vaccine receive it
- Until now, its primary role has been to facilitate the verification of passengers traveling between countries in terms of COVID-19 prevention. Currently, in many of them the covid passport is no longer respected
- By the decision of the Minister of Health, from April 26 in Poland, certificates of persons vaccinated three times are valid indefinitely
- There are stories on the Internet of travelers who encountered problems with the enforcement of their perpetual covid passports at airports
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
What is the current validity of covid passports in Poland?
«In Poland, the EU Covid Certificate for people who have received a third, booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine is indefinite. At the same time, I would like to remind you that the UCC for children up to 18 years old is indefinite throughout the EU»- wrote on April 26 Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski.
The spokesman of the head of the ministry, Wojciech Andrusiewicz, explained that this decision is due to the lack of a recommendation on the fourth dose (it is recommended only for the elderly, over 80 and those with reduced immunity).
This is a change to the rules that entered into force in February this year. Then, the validity period of the covid passport, in accordance with European guidelines, was set at 270 days (previously it was a full year). For example, if we got vaccinated in January this year, our certificate was valid until October 2022.
Now the passport is valid indefinitely, but we must remember that the validity period will not be the same for every person.
Only:
- people vaccinated with three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and
- children up to 18 years of age who have received the full course of vaccination against COVID-19 (two doses).
This means that if we have been vaccinated with one or two doses, and we have not taken a booster, our covid passport has a specific validity (270 days from the date of the last vaccination).
The rest of the article is available under the video.
Are you traveling? Your covid certificate may be invalid
So much for the theory. What is the practice like? The accounts of people who have recently traveled around Europe do not inspire optimism. There are times when their covid certificates are considered invalid. Travelers in such a situation are asked to undergo a coronavirus test, for which they must pay out of their own pocket (the cost of such a test is around EUR 20). We do not have to agree to the examination, but in this case we will not go through the check-in – the flight ticket will simply be lost.
Such an event was recently described by the WP.pl website, presenting the story of a reader who went to Italy shortly after the minister announced the indefinite period of Polish covid passports. His colleague could not pass the check-in, because the certificate turned out to be invalid in the country where the so-called green pass (valid for six months after vaccination). Ultimately, the traveler had to perform an antigen test and only on the basis of a negative result could board the plane.
– We have covid passports for an indefinite period, but not in other countries. The punctuality of covid passports can be said to end in the Tatra Mountains, at the Chopin airport or on the Oder – comments Dr. hab. n. med. Tomasz Dzieciatkowski, a specialist in the field of virology, microbiology and laboratory diagnostics.
Interestingly, despite the fact that the decision on the indefinite duration of covid passports was made over two weeks ago, in the Internet Patient Account (IKP), the validity period has not changed.
This can also be a problem when checking in at the airport, especially when the validity of our certificate expires in the coming weeks. Remembering that according to European regulations, the validity period is 270 days (almost nine months), if we go to a country where UCCs are respected, our certificate may be invalid.
We wrote to the Ministry of Health about the doubts related to the expiry date of the certificate confirming vaccination against COVID-19 and the enforcement of Polish certificates in other countries. We asked, among others about the path to be followed in the event of non-recognition of a covid passport by airport employees. We have not yet received any answers to the questions asked.
Do you want to test your COVID-19 immunity after vaccination? Have you been infected and want to check your antibody levels? See the COVID-19 immunity test package, which you will perform at Diagnostics network points.
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