The COVID-19 vaccine certificate does not have an expiry date, despite a legal notice stating it would only be valid for six months, public health chief Charmaine Gauci assured on Wednesday. 

She told Times of Malta readers during her fortnightly Facebook show that "the vaccine certificates issued by Malta do not have an expiry date". 

"Don't worry if you are not yet eligible for the booster or if you have not yet taken it, your vaccine certificate is still valid. So if you need to go abroad or attend an event or eat at restaurants where you need to show your vaccination certificate, then your certificate is valid," Gauci said. 

She said there are talks underway at EU level over the updating of the document although this would only happen once everyone is given the booster. 

Asked about a legal notice published earlier in the year, saying that the document will be valid for six months, Gauci said the document has no date on it and so is not linked to any particular time frame. 

The vaccine certificates were first made available in May, with a legal notice issued a few weeks earlier outlining how the document would work.