According to Lusa, minors who have received at least the primary vaccination against Covid-19 are exempt from the nine-month validity period of the European digital certificate, according to the new rules adopted by the European Commission.

Under the new rules, only Covid digital certificates from the European Union (EU) of those over 18 are now subject to a validity period of 270 days (nine months) after the administration of the last dose of the primary vaccination.

For the Johnson&Johnson vaccine, this means 270 days after the first and only injection. For a two-dose vaccine, it means 270 days after the second injection.

Rules relaxed

This relaxation of the rules is due to the fact that not all EU Member States recommend reinforcing vaccination for minors. The exemption must be applied by each Member State – by adapting the applications that verify the validity of the certificates – until 6 April.

The EU Covid Digital Certificate is digital proof that a person is vaccinated against the disease, received a negative test result or have recovered from Covid-19.