EU now recognises MySejahtera vaccination certificates

 

Malaysia’s digital vaccine certification in the MySejahtera application is now recognised in the European Union via the European Union (EU) Digital Covid Certificate trust framework.

EU ambassador Michalis Rokas took to social media today to announce this decision, which takes effect immediately.

“Some great news, the EU has accepted Malaysia’s Science and Technology Ministry’s request for establishing an equivalence between EU’s Digital Covid Certificate and Malaysia’s MySejahtera. A booster for business and tourism,” he said.

Some great news: The EU 🇪🇺 has accepted Malaysia 🇲🇾 @officialmosti request for establishing the equivalence between EU’s Digital Covid Certificate and Malaysia’s MySejahtera. A booster for business and tourism! @KKMPutrajaya @Khairykj @MalaysiaMFA https://t.co/WFwa7wjSVQ pic.twitter.com/kj78PxZ0pZ

— Michalis Rokas (@MichalisRokasEU) April 4, 2022

According to a document on the European Union’s website, Malaysia’s vaccination and test certificates under the “Vaccine Management System” were in accordance with the EU trust framework.

“On March 10, 2022, following a request by Malaysia, the (European) Commission carried out technical tests that demonstrated that the Covid-19 vaccination and test certificates issued by Malaysia are in accordance with a system, the ‘Vaccine Management System’ that is interoperable with the trust framework established by Regulation (EU) 2021/953, and allows for the verification of the authenticity, validity and integrity of the certificates.

“The Commission also confirmed that the Covid-19 vaccination and test certificates issued by Malaysia in accordance with the ‘Vaccine Management System’ contain the necessary data,” it said.

While this decision recognises vaccination certificates, it is unclear if the EU will now recognise all vaccines administered in Malaysia, including Sinovac vaccine recipients.

Malaysiakini reported on March 24 that two Malaysians were denied entry into Germany despite having received two doses of the Sinovac vaccine and one Pfizer-BioNTech booster, allegedly due to their primary vaccines.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had said he would seek clarification from Michalis over the matter.

Among the vaccination certificates currently issued in Malaysia include Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, CanSino and Sinopharm.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) only recognises Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.

Sinovac has been under review by the EMA since May 4 last year.

Nevertheless, the EU delegation to Malaysia had previously assured that it would allow travellers vaccinated with vaccines under WHO Emergency Use Listing to enter, even if it has yet to be authorised in the EU. This would have included the Sinovac vaccine. - Mkini