Czech Republic Allows Its Nationals Vaccinated in Third Countries to Apply for COVID-19 Passport

Czech nationals vaccinated in any third country are now eligible to apply for the EU Digital COVID-19 Vaccination Passport, the Czech Ministry of Health has announced.

According to a press release issued by the institution, Czech nationals who have been vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) such as Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer are permitted to apply for the document that aims to facilitate the travel process within the block.

“We want to provide Czech citizens vaccinated in third countries with one of the four vaccines, which is also available in the EU, the same benefits that vaccination brings them in the country,” the Health Minister, Adam Vojtěch, noted.

He also said that people coming from third countries and have or will visit a healthcare provider will have their information electronically shared into the Infectious Disease Information System; therefore, the vaccine will be issued a single EU certificate.

The criteria for the applicant to obtain such a document is to present proof of the vaccination certificate issued in a third country in English by the medical authorities.

The certificate must also include information on the holder’s vaccination, such as type of vaccine administered, date of vaccination, certificate’s issuer information, which must be possible to verify remotely.

If the document is not verifiable, any document proving its legitimacy, such as a medical report that includes a contact to the facility where the vaccination occurred, is required.

Besides being vaccinated with one of the EMA’s approved vaccines, the applicant must be a citizen of the Czech Republic or be a family member of someone who has a temporary or permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic had extended the validity of the COVID-19 recovery certificates from 90 to 180 days, allowing travellers with such documents to be exempted from quarantine entry restrictions for a longer period. These changes were approved in an extraordinary meeting called by the Czech government on May 21.