European Union member states should issue a vaccine certificate for every jab administered, a European Commission spokesperson has said.
The Maltese authorities are only issuing certificates to those administered both doses in the country. And anyone trying to download a certificate after being given one dose here and another in a different EU country is hitting a brick wall.
However, the commission says an EU citizen should be able to get “a certificate for every dose, test, etc”.
“The first country would issue a certificate for the first vaccine dose and the second country should then recognise this certificate and issue the one for the second dose,” the spokesperson said.
Questions on the matter sent to the health ministry have remained unanswered.
Earlier this summer, when the EU certificate was first introduced, public health chief Charmaine Gauci had made it clear that it would not be issued to those who had received doses in different countries.
With Malta’s travel rules stipulating that entry into the country is only allowed upon presentation of a COVID vaccine certificate, those not given the document because of doses administered abroad are stuck in limbo.
Times of Malta reader Marios Mitsides is one of those hit by Malta’s rule.
They told me I could have the doses in different countries but no one mentioned the issue with the certificate
He received his first Pfizer jab in Cyprus and was then told by the Maltese health authorities he could take the second dose here on presentation of his residence card and original vaccination cards showing details of the first dose.
Although Mitsides was given the second dose in Malta, he soon found out he would not be able to get the certificate proving he was fully vaccinated, which he needed to travel.
“They told me I could have the doses in different countries but no one mentioned the issue with the certificate,” Mitsides said, showing Times of Malta a copy of the vaccine cards that confirmed he took both Pfizer doses.
Although EU countries are responsible for issuing the certificate to their citizens free of charge, all 27 member states are hooked into the same system, so that all certificates are recognised across the bloc.
The EU vaccine certificate consists of a QR code (a type of barcode that reveals information when scanned) that verifies if a person has been vaccinated or tested for COVID-19.
In some countries, it also contains information on past COVID infections, although this is not recognised by the Maltese health authorities.
Only vaccines approved by the European Medicines Authority (EMA) – those made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson&Johnson – are accepted.