Maltese health authorities have defended imposing stricter expiration dates on vaccines certificates than those laid out by the European Commission, amid calls from European airports for action to be taken against the country.
On January 17, new rules came into force which saw COVID-19 vaccine certificates expire three months after the date of the second dose. New certificates generated after the receipt of a booster vaccine are valid for nine months.
These rules, however, are in conflict with those adopted by the European Commission on December 21, which establish nine months after the last dose of the primary vaccine as the standard for use during travel.
As a result, European airports have written to the commission demanding action against Malta for choosing to further restrict the validity of COVID certificates for travel.
Asked if the authorities were considering amending local rules to conform with those set out by the Commission, in light of these demands, a spokesperson for the health ministry side-stepped an answer and defended Malta’s right to include additional restrictions as it sees necessary.
“The delegated act under the EU Digital Covid Certificate gives member states the discretion to decide on whether to ease restrictions on the basis of vaccination certificates,” she said.
“Moreover, it empowers member states to introduce additional restrictions, such as the requirement of a booster dose, as long as this is notified to the commission and justified.”
She added that the European Centre for Disease Control recommends boosters be administered three months after primary vaccination to “avert severe illnesses, hospitalisation or deaths”.
The nine-month validity rule only applies to travel and member states are free to set restrictions on local use as they see fit.
A Commission official told Times of Malta the EU executive was currently “seeking clarification” with local authorities on the measures introduced this month.
“Member states must accept any vaccination certificate that has been issued less than nine months since the administration of the last dose of the primary vaccination,” she said.
“Member states cannot provide for a shorter nor for a longer acceptance period.
“Member states may provide for different acceptance periods when using the EU Digital COVID Certificate for domestic purposes only, as such uses do not fall within the scope of the regulation. To reduce divergence and confusion for travellers, member states are invited to align their rules for the domestic use of vaccination certificates with the 270-day standard acceptance period applicable in the context of travel.
“We understand that Malta has applied new measures since January 17 regarding the validity of the vaccination certificate and we are in touch with the Maltese authorities to seek clarifications.”
She added that presently there is no standard acceptance period at EU level for vaccination certificates following a booster dose due to insufficient data on the length of protection it provides, but that it can reasonably be expected to last longer than the primary vaccine.
Following a meeting on the COVID pandemic last week, the World Health Organization recommended that international travel bans should be eased or restricted, after they had demonstrably failed to stop spread of the Omicron variant.
“The failure of travel restrictions introduced after the detection and reporting of Omicron variant to limit the international spread of Omicron demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures over time,” the WHO said in a statement.
“Travel measures should be based on risk assessments and avoid placing the financial burden on international travellers.”
The WHO also recommended that proof of vaccination against COVID-19 should not be the only pathway permitting international travel, due to the globally inequitable distribution of vaccines, as well as encouraging nations to recognise all vaccines that have received WHO emergency use listing.