People under 40 who contract Covid-19 and have not been boosted stand to lose out on getting a certificate of recovery for an updated EU Digital Covid Cert under the new testing rules.
From Friday, those aged between four and 39 will no longer be entitled to a confirmatory PCR test from the HSE if they test positive on an antigen test following the Government’s changes.
EU rules state that certificates of recovery showing that a person has recovered from Covid-19 can only be issued following a positive PCR test in order to qualify for the digital cert for travel.
Dr Ronan Glynn, the deputy chief medical officer, told a media briefing on Wednesday that the current certificates are valid for 270 days so anyone who completed their primary vaccination course last July will be able to travel to the vast majority of countries until April.
He said that anyone who has not been boosted and who now tests positive for Covid-19 on antigen tests would be in a position to get their booster doses in three months’ time allowing them to get their updated digital certificate in time to travel during the summer.
“Hopefully there won’t be too many people adversely affected,” he said.
The Government has been issuing updated digital certs to reflect the additional third booster shots that have been administered over the past four months.
However, many younger people still have yet to receive their booster doses.
Just one in three people aged between 30 and 39 had received booster doses by last week, while almost one in four among those aged 18-29 had been boosted. Just one in five young people aged 16 or 17 had been boosted, according to the HSE.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said that anybody thinking of going on holiday abroad this year should get their booster doses as quickly as possible.
The EU is introducing new rules on travel from February 1st to include booster shots. Updated Covid-19 certs will also be needed to gain access to hospitality.
Asked about the PCR requirement for the digital cert, the Department of Health said that it was "critical to the success of the EU Digital Covid Certificate that consistency is applied across all member states regarding the issuing of certificates".
