A woman who was expecting her partner to visit her from Italy has found herself at a standstill with Maltese authorities, as her partner, an Italian national, has been warned that he must quarantine upon arrival despite possessing a validly recognised EU Covid-19 vaccine certificate.
“If he decides to come to Malta he has to be quarantined for 14 days in a hotel for €100 a day” the woman who reported the issue to SideStreet Malta this morning lamented.
Maltese regulations state that in order to be permitted free entry into the country, individuals must have received all recommended doses of their vaccine taken. In this case, however, the Italian man was not permitted by Italian authorities to receive his second dose, as he had contracted the virus earlier in February and therefore was given only one dose. “He also tried and tried to ask for the second dose, but the Italian authorities denied his request as they insist that if you got infected by covid, only one dose is necessary.”
According to nature presented on the reputable website www.nature.com
“Studies show that people with previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 tend to mount powerful immune responses to single shots and gain little added benefit from another injection”
The EU deems such individuals as being fully vaccinated, granting the man the EU Covid-19 vaccine certificate. However, despite being in possession of the EU certificate, Maltese authorities are not recognising special cases like these as being fully vaccinated.
“If we are not trusting the EU Vaccine Certificate, then what is the point of this certificate? If I am not mistaken Italy is not a high-risk country at the moment, so I am really not understanding this logic and these travel regulations done by the health authorities.”
Efforts by the couple to contact authorities and plead for understanding have been thus far ignored. "I called the covid helpline 111, they advised me that the EU Certificate with dose 1/1 is not accepted."
Do you know of anyone facing a similar situation?