Singapore's COVID-19 vaccination certificates recognised by EU states

SINGAPORE — Travelling between Singapore and European Union (EU) member states has been made easier, after the European Commission announced on Wednesday (24 November) that it recognises COVID-19 vaccination certificates issued by Singapore as the equivalent of the EU's digital COVID certificate.

Singapore is the first Southeast Asian country to have its certificate recognised in this manner. Conversely, the EU's digital COVID certificate will also be recognised and accepted by Singapore.

This decision will come into force on Thursday. Fully-vaccinated persons holding the Singapore certificate should be exempted from travel-related testing or quarantine among the EU member states. The same applies for recovered persons with the certificate during the first 180 days after a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

As EU member states may choose, but are not obliged, to waive restrictions for travellers who have received a vaccine that is not authorised in the EU, the European Commission advises travellers to check which vaccines are acceptable by the EU state they are travelling to beforehand.

Quarantine-free travel between Denmark and Singapore restored

The announcement also means that quarantine-free travel between Singapore and Denmark has been restored, two weeks after Denmark re-classified Singapore as a high-risk country for travel to Europe.

As Denmark did not recognise Singapore's vaccination certificate two weeks ago, travellers from the city-state would have had to test upon arrival and self-isolate for 10 days, with an option to end the quarantine with a negative PCR test on the fourth day.

With the decision to recognise Singapore's vaccination certificate in EU member states, the Embassy of Denmark in Singapore wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday night, "If you are travelling to Denmark, that means that you can use your Singaporean certificate to prove your vaccination status and avoid quarantine."

Singapore had set up a vaccinated travel lane with Denmark last month, allowing quarantine-free travel for those flying into Singapore via designated flights.

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