As European countries start to open their borders for vaccinated travellers, the Spanish authorities have announced that any of the vaccines that have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and World Health Organization (WHO) will be recognised by the country’s authorities, as a proof of immunity against COVID-19 for incoming travellers.
Consequently, this means that Spain recognises vaccination certificates as long as the holder has been immunised with one of the following vaccines:
- Comirnaty – Pfizer/BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH.
- Vaxzevria – AstraZeneca
- AstraZeneca/SK Bio, SK Bioscience Co. Ltd.
- Vaccine AstraZeneca (Covishield™), Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.
- Janssen-Cilag International NV.
- Spikevax; mRNA-1273), Moderna Biotech
- Vero Cell – Sinopharm/Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd.
- Sinovac-CoronaVac (Vero Cell), Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd.
“Any vaccine authorised for marketing by the European Union (European Medicines Agency, EMA) and WHO will be accepted. The complete vaccination schedule must be available for the vaccination certificate to be valid,” the official Travel Health Portal of Spain noted.
Since Covishield was listed for emergency use by the WHO back in February, Spain is one of the few EU countries to recognise the vaccine despite that the European Union agency responsible for supervision and evaluation of medicines has not approved it yet.
The document that shows proof of vaccination should be provided in Spanish, English, French, or German and may be submitted to the authorities in electronic or paper format.
In addition, the vaccination certificate should include the following information on the holder:
- Name and surname
- Personal identification number
- Name of the vaccine administered
- Country/city where the vaccine has been administered
- Date(s) of vaccination
As for the validity of the vaccination certificate, it was indicated that the document would start being valid 14 days after the last dose of the vaccine was administered and would remain effective up to one year after the date of vaccination, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Persons who do not hold a vaccination certificate are also permitted to enter Spain provided that they present a negative COVID-19 test result or proof of recovery from the disease.
“You may travel, presenting a document/certificate certifying vaccination against COVID-19, a negative diagnostic test or recovery against COVID-19, according to the provisions of current legislation relative to the health controls to be carried out at the points of entry into Spain,” Travel Health Portal added.
The EU Digital COVID Certificate, which has been established by the EU Commission, is a document designated for vaccinated travellers that aims to facilitate free movement within the block.
As of July 1, the certificate has become effective to 21 Member States and three non-EU/Schengen countries, except for Ireland.
If planning to travel abroad during this summer, make sure to check and verify whether the vaccine you have been immunised with is recognised in your destination country.