The European Commission has decided to recognize digital COVID-19 vaccination certificates issued in Taiwan. The policy comes into effect on Wednesday, December 22.
In a press release on Tuesday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said that all legal residents of Taiwan with Taiwan-issued digital vaccination certificates will not have to provide a negative PCR test result before boarding their flights. They will also not be required to undergo quarantine upon arrival in Europe. However, in order to take advantage of the new regulation, the travelers must be vaccinated with a vaccine type approved for use by the European Medicines Agency.
When asked whether this means Taiwan’s own Medigen brand of COVID-19 vaccine will be approved in the European Union, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said that each EU member state has its own rules. He said the European Commission’s decision only involves digital certificates, and that individual countries set their own standards for vaccine approval. Chen also said that Taiwan is in the process of discussing similar treatment of Taiwan-issued digital certificates in other countries.
Taiwan has not yet started issuing COVID-19 digital vaccination certificates. Health Minister Chen says more information on that will be made available next week.