Travel to Spain

timc1619

My partner and I are traveling to Spain for a holiday from 15th July to the 25th July. We will both be 53 years old.

We are both fully vaccinated and boosted however it will have been over 270 days since my partner received her booster. (my partner is a key worker so had her booster early)

I remain confused about whether she will need to take a PCR test prior to travel or whether the 270 days is in relation to the second vaccination.

i sent an email asking the same to Ministry of Health - Professionals - Travel and COVID-19 (sanidad.gob.es) and the reply was the booster has no expiry date.

just looking for some confirmation!

thanks

tim 

Troytempest

Pretty sure the 270 days is only for original jabs and not boosters.

Spaceace

timc1619 said:

My partner and I are traveling to Spain for a holiday from 15th July to the 25th July. We will both be 53 years old.

We are both fully vaccinated and boosted however it will have been over 270 days since my partner received her booster. (my partner is a key worker so had her booster early)

I remain confused about whether she will need to take a PCR test prior to travel or whether the 270 days is in relation to the second vaccination.

i sent an email asking the same to Ministry of Health - Professionals - Travel and COVID-19 (sanidad.gob.es) and the reply was the booster has no expiry date.

just looking for some confirmation!

thanks

tim 

The site you have linked, which states that the booster has no expiry, is the official Spanish government health site.  What possible other confirmation could you receive that would be more authoritative?

timc1619

Someone who has personal first hand experience of having travelled would be nice. The rules are changing frequently and i have no idea who has replied. it could be the office administrator who hasn't really got a grip on these things.
I'd hate to get turned around at the airport for the sake of asking the question here. 
Thanks for your input

eskbanker

The official documented position on that site is clear, and nobody will have travelled anywhere more than 270 days after a booster yet, so you won't find any first hand experience of that!  However, as you say, rules do change, so maybe check back in a couple of months to see what, if anything, has changed....

sheramber

You don’t know who has replied on here either. They may claim to have travelled but how do you know they are genuine. An official website is likely to be more reliable.

NoodleDoodleMan

The official Spanish government guidance -  validity is 270 days from the date of the most recent vaccination, including boosters.

Valid from the date the booster is administered.

The DCC QR code details can be taken from the NHS website and downloaded here using the "yellow button" top left - https://www.spth.gob.es/

Or via the original route following the "blue button" option.

A paper copy of the NHS vaccination certificate with dates of vaccinations is recommended as backup - best printed off recently.

I can't see any reference to the booster having no expiry date - I would want a second opinion on that.

timc1619

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The official Spanish government guidance -  validity is 270 days from the date of the most recent vaccination, including boosters.

Valid from the date the booster is administered.

The DCC QR code details can be taken from the NHS website and downloaded here using the "yellow button" top left - https://www.spth.gob.es/

Or via the original route following the "blue button" option.

A paper copy of the NHS vaccination certificate with dates of vaccinations is recommended as backup - best printed off recently.

I can't see any reference to the booster having no expiry date - I would want a second opinion on that.

thank you very much 

Ganga

Hopefully the 270 day rule will be dropped as it is only 8-9 months and Spain can be visited 365 days of the year so eventually everybody would be over the time limit.

eskbanker

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The official Spanish government guidance -  validity is 270 days from the date of the most recent vaccination, including boosters.

No, the wording on the official Spanish site cited by @timc1619 explains this:

• COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate
  • From 1 February 2022, this will be valid from 14 days after the date of administration of the last dose of the complete vaccination schedule and will be valid up to 270 days from the date of administration of that last dose. The vaccination certificate with a complete schedule for people under 18 years of age does not have an expiration date.
  • Thereafter, in order to be valid, the vaccination certificate must reflect the administration of a booster dose. These certificates will be considered valid since the day the booster dose was administered.

The 'thereafter' is important, i.e. the second of the original two doses (the complete vaccination schedule) expires after 270 days, but a booster is valid from the day it's administered - if there was another 270 day (or any other) validity period for the booster, it would be shown in the second bullet point.

NoodleDoodleMan

This is maybe where things may be getting a bit confusing in my humble opinion ? My italics in bold below,

An EU digital COVID certificate (DCC) or EU equivalent is a digital certification issued by the competent authorities of EU countries, and third countries/territories that have joined the DCC system, that a person:

• has been vaccinated against COVID-19, with a complete schedule or booster dose. In the case of a complete vaccination schedule, you should check the validity periods: this certificate will be valid from 14 days after the administration of the last dose of the complete vaccination schedule and will be valid up to 270 days from the administration of this last dose. The vaccination certificate with complete schedule for children under 18 has no expiry date.
  Thereafter, in order to be valid (people aged 18 and over), the vaccination certificate must reflect the administration of a booster dose. These certificates will be considered valid from the day the booster dose is administered.
• a diagnostic test (sample collection) has been performed within 72 hours prior to departure for Spain for NAAT (nucleic acid amplification tests, e.g. RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, TMA) / 24 hours for RAT (rapid antigen test), the result of which has been negative.
• a person is considered to have recovered from COVID-19, after the disease has passed, provided that more than 11 days have elapsed since the first positive NAAT or RAT was performed, and this recovery shall be valid for 180 days thereafter.

For more information on the certificate and third countries/territories that have joined the EU DCC system, please visit this link website of the European Union (EU).

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I reckon it's the time lapse post 2nd vaccination, and that of the subsequent booster that confuses ?

The 14 day delay after the 2nd inoculation does not apply to the 3rd jab booster - that's clear enough - but valid from does not specify an expiration date.