As most European countries have decided to receive vaccinated travelers during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to recover the tourism sector, the Dutch government has made public the list of vaccines recognized by the country's authorities. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Health, the Netherlands will accept proof of vaccination only if the vaccine has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the World Health Organization (WHO).
This means that vaccines accepted by the Netherlands are:
- Pfizer / BioNTech (Comirnaty)
- AstraZeneca EU (Vaxzevria)
- Johnson & Johnson (Janssen)
- Modern (Spikevax)
- AstraZeneca-SK Bio (Vaxzevria)
- AstraZeneca-Serum Institute of India (Covishield)
- Sinopharm BIBP
- A nephew
Earlier this week, Soumya Swaminathan, Director of the World Health Organization, revealed that 15 countries in the European Union have recognized the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute India as valid proof of immunity against COVID-19 disease. The list also includes the Netherlands, which decided to recognize the vaccine after it was listed for emergency use by the WHO in early 2021.
The Dutch authorities have announced that for a vaccination certificate to be valid, it must be issued in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish.
The certificate must include the following information about the holder:
- Name, surname and personal identification number
- Proof that the person has been completely vaccinated against COVID-19
- The name of the vaccine and the manufacturer of the vaccine that was given
- The date on which each dose of vaccine was given
- The name of the country where the vaccine was given
- Name of the issuer of the vaccination document
- A signature stamp proving the authenticity of the certificate
- Regarding the validity of the certificate, it was emphasized that the document will not be valid until 14 days have passed since the complete vaccination process was completed.
The Netherlands has already started issuing and verifying EU COVID Digital Certificate from July 1. Earlier, the Dutch authorities announced that, since the EU COVID Digital Certificate is already operational, more relaxed rules will apply to EU travelers wishing to enter the country from a high-risk area, as well as vaccinated non-EU citizens.