Proof of booster jabs and third doses are being added to the NHS COVID Pass for international travel from today.
It comes after some countries – including Israel, Croatia, and Austria – introduced a time limit for COVID vaccination status to be valid for quarantine-free travel.
Many European nations are also battling a big increase in cases, with Austria announcing a new national lockdown.
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The booster is not being added to the domestic COVID pass at this time.
People travelling into England will also not need to show evidence of a third jab.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to show their vaccine status if they are travelling abroad,” said Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
“This update to the NHS COVID Pass will mean people can have their complete medical picture at their fingertips if they are going on holiday or seeing loved ones overseas.”
More than 20 million people have accessed their pass via the NHS app since May.
Boosters and third doses will show up automatically in the digital pass from today for people in England, and from 29 November in Wales.
It will not immediately be available via the COVID pass letter service, but the government says it will “be updated in due course”.
The number of booster jabs administered in the UK so far has topped 13 million, and the age range for eligibility was this week lowered to anyone over 40.
Those who are also more clinically vulnerable to coronavirus, the people they live with, NHS and social care workers, and care home residents are also eligible.
Most people must wait six months since their second jab to get one.
The booster is given to ‘top up’ a person’s protection as it begins to wane, and is seen as especially important as we enter winter.
Data from the UK Health and Security Agency this week suggests the additional jab is very effective.
Two weeks after a booster dose of Pfizer, over-50s who originally had two doses of AstraZeneca were up to 93.1% protection and those who originally had two Pfizer jabs up to 94% protection.
