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The Swiss authorities have announced that third country citizens arriving from countries outside the EU/Schengen Area can now apply for a Swiss COVID-19 Certificate.
However, in order to be eligible to obtain such a document, applicants must prove that they have been immunised against the COVID-19 disease with one of the vaccines that have been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) – AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“The national and electronic solution for converting foreign vaccination certificates (EMA vaccines) into a Swiss Covid certificate has been in operation since October 19, 2021,” the statement of Switzerland Tourism reads.
Except for meeting the vaccination requirement, applicants from third countries must also provide all of the following information for their vaccination passport conversion to be completed:
Moreover, it has been noted that all of the required documents must be submitted either in German, French, Italian, or English. Documents provided in other languages are not accepted.
According to the data provided by Switzerland’s tourism official page, applicants are required to pay an amount of CHF 30 (€28) for the conversion of their certificate, which can be either downloaded or directly moved into the COVID-19 Certificate App.
As soon as the application process is completed, the applicants will have to wait for a period of up to five days before receiving their Swiss COVID Certificate.
Additionally, it has been highlighted that as a temporary solution, until Sunday, October 24, all human-readable certificates will remain valid for access to indoor areas. However, starting from Monday, October 25, this solution will no longer apply.
“All human-readable certificates (including personal information, vaccine, vaccination country and vaccination date, in the Swiss national languages, English or Spanish or certified translated into these languages) are still valid for access to indoor spaces until October 24, 2021. This is a temporary solution. From Monday, October 25, 2021, this interim solution will no longer apply,” Switzerland Tourism noted.
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Regarding third country travellers who have been immunised against the disease with vaccines that have not been approved by EMA, the authorities explained that they are still not allowed access to indoor spaces as they currently do not have the option to convert their certificate.
Previously, the Swiss authorities announced that the country would no longer offer free COVID-19 tests for those who have not been fully vaccinated, including travellers. Only those under the age of 16 and the ones who have been partially vaccinated will continue to benefit from free testing until the end of October.