Need a booster for overseas trips?

In Switzerland, the day of Covid certification is long gone: The days when you had to pull out your all-important QR code smartphone at a restaurant or a sporting event seem far away.

This is one of the reasons why interest in the fourth vaccine has been limited. This has been freely available to the public since this week. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recommends the second booster to all people over the age of 18. The refresher course is especially recommended for people over 65 years of age and those with pre-existing disease.

Certificates have expired

What still attracts many people to supporters: If this were mandatory for trips abroad again. However, in the European region and around the Mediterranean, all countries can be re-traveled without proof of vaccination. However, some countries still require a negative PCR test from people who have not been vaccinated upon arrival. For example Tunisia and Algeria.

There are still countries that only allow fully vaccinated people to enter for intercontinental travel. The question arises: Do people who have been vaccinated twice still arrive when the second vaccine is already available and the basic immunization is more than a year ago? In Europe, Covid certificates are generally valid for 270 days from the last vaccination date. For many Swiss, more time has passed since the booster.

Basic immunization is sufficient

The US continues to require non-US citizens to be fully vaccinated upon entry. The same is true in China, Singapore, and the Philippines, as well as Peru, Colombia, and Chile. Canada and Japan have recently abolished mandatory vaccinations at entry.

However: Even where vaccination is still mandatory, basic immunization is sufficient according to current regulations. Regardless of whether it is more than 270 days. No other booster is required for entry.

Proof of insurance for overseas travel

However, with regard to the approaching winter, the situation is unstable and could change rapidly. Past pandemic winters were characterized by a patchwork of different measures. Frieder Voll (40) studies tourism at the University of Applied Sciences in Graubünden and lays it all out: “The trend is clearly towards less restrictive measures. Things like closing borders completely or only entering with a vaccine will gradually disappear.”

Even if certificates are not issued at the time of travel, the pandemic continues to affect international tourists: since the pandemic, more and more countries have requested proof of foreign insured insurance. This ensures that tourists do not burden the local health system in case of illness.

The travel expert also recommends that you prepare for possible local restrictions. “It makes a lot of sense to pack a few FFP2 masks in the suitcase,” says Frieder Voll. Anyway, it makes sense to learn more about the Corona regulations at the resort shortly before we set off.