A Maltese man living in Portugal is claiming discrimination as his EU COVID Pass is not recognised in Malta, grounding his family’s trip to see his seriously ill mother.

James Cutajar says he and his children are in a race against time to see his mother unless he goes through an expensive and lengthy quarantine.

For a year and a half, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible for Cutajar’s children to visit their grandmother in Malta.

The software developer faced a travel nightmare as a number of airlines cancelled direct flights to Malta from Porto in the past year. He was relieved with the reopening of tourism to Malta last month, and managed to book flights for his family to visit Malta in July.

But he was caught completely off guard by the next hurdle he would encounter. 

An EU-issued vaccine pass deemed invalid for Malta

Cutajar had contracted COVID-19 in the past. 

According to protocol in Portugal, recovered virus patients only require one vaccine dose to be considered fully vaccinated. Cutajar was therefore only eligible for a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which he took. 

Research suggests COVID-19 recoverees have similar levels of antibodies against the virus after a single Pfizer jab, as those who have never been infected and receive the two doses of the shot. 

EU regulations endorse these studies and allow member states to administer a single jab of a two-dose vaccine to people who have been infected with the virus in the past. 

Cutajar's EU COVID Pass marks him as having received '1/1' vaccine doses.

However, the Maltese health authorities do not recognise an EU Digital COVID Vaccination Certificate showing just one dose (unless for the single-dose Janssen vaccine).

The issue leaves Cutajar with no other choice but to quarantine for 14 days at the cost of €1,400, which he says he cannot afford to do.

Stuck in Portugal

Cutajar is not able to procure another Pfizer vaccination, even if he tried, as the Portuguese health authorities deem a second dose wasted on recoverees, he said.

“As things stand, it’s very likely that it will be a long time before I see my Maltese family again,” he explained.

He described the regulations for entry into Malta as discriminatory and in breach of EU law.

The latest EU travel measures state: “Fully vaccinated persons holding vaccination certificates in line with the EU Digital COVID Certificate should be exempted from travel-related testing or quarantine 14 days after having received the last dose. This should also cover recovered persons having received a single dose of a two-dose vaccine.”

Appeals to the Health Superintendent for an exemption from the two weeks of quarantine were also turned down, with Charmaine Gauci reiterating that a vaccination certificate showing one dose of a two-dose vaccine, was not considered valid.

“Many other countries are following this one dose rule, but somehow Malta is special and doesn’t want to accept these types of EU vaccination certificates,” Cutajar pointed out.