I’m sure this has been covered but my head is spinning as we may need to pivot countries. Up til now we have a tour and air for Switzerland but we may not be able to enter due to their ‘within 270 day rule for final dose’. This includes boosters and since we were early onboard with booster shot it will not be valid at time of entry.
Would someone be so kind to either tell me what current requirements are for England or the official site I can find them?
There are no longer any special entry requirements for fully vaccinated individuals. You will need your passport, your CDC card, and fill out a Passenger Locator Form. To return to the U.S. you will need an antigen test within one calendar day of your return flight.
Chris, I think you may want to confirm your information on the 270 day rule for Switzerland and boosters. I think you may have incorrect information.
I believe that the 270 day limit applies to your original two doses, not your booster. In fact, the booster takes care of any concerns about when your second dose was received.
Where are you getting your information? Please double check this before you cancel a trip thinking that you can't enter Switzerland.
Carol
I suspect this is is what Chris is acting on
emailed sem.ch and gave them all of our vaccine dates: the first 2 primary doses which were completed February 2021…. So those are already past the ‘within the 270 day’ validity period.
I also included our booster dates which were October 2 & October 15 2021.
By the time of our entry July 1, my travel companion’s booster validity expires June 29 and my booster validity expires July 12… our tour is July 3-14.
This comes from the minister of migration in Switzerland:
According to the actual restrictions, US citizens can enter (from the USA, which is considered to be a high-risk country) for tourism purposes only if vaccinated with an authorised vaccine (like Moderna).
The vaccine must have been administered in full within the past 270 days. Proof of vaccination may take the form of a COVID-19 certificate. If the certificate has not yet been introduced, vaccination must be proven by another suitable document. This must contain the following information
§ Surname, first name(s)
§ Date of birth
§ Date of vaccination,
§ Vaccine usedIn your case, you’re considered vaccinated until the 29th of June 2022 (traveller 1) or 12 July 2022 (traveller 2).
Unfortunately, at the date of the entry to Switzerland (according to the actual rules), traveller 1 would no more be considered as vaccinated. Entry would not be allowed.
Please note that entry rules may be adapted by the Swiss government depending on the development of the pandemic in these countries. We therefore recommend that you regularly check our website for new developments.
Best regards,
COVID-19 Helpline / Cas
Federal Department of Justice and Police FDJP
State Secretariat for Migration SEM
Immigration and Integration DirectorateQuellenweg 6, CH-3003 Bern-Wabern
Tel. +41 (0)58 465 77 60
[email protected]
Chris, the Swiss Website currently lists that anyone that has a booster is exempt from the 270 day rule. Now, I can certainly see where this is frustrating and confusing to get opposite information from supposedly official sources. I do encourage you to follow up and not make drastic changes to your trip without a clear resolution on this.
Carol…I do not see that anywhere official for Switzerland.
Joe32 is correct that is what I am working off of since I emailed the secretariat of Migration for Switzerland and what Joe posted is an actual copy of their reply last week.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/travel/vaccines-boosters-travel.html
Well, this article seems to support the 270 day on boosters as well. I am quite surprised. Other countries are only considering the 270 days for the initial series and the booster takes away time requirements.
I hope that Switzerland rethinks this part of its policy. I'm sorry it is impacting your trip so.
Carol…. I know… it just doesn’t make any sense since Switzerland says it’s in line with the EU….but it isn’t. It is its own country.
Our choices are wait ….. but gamble that change would not come soon enough for us to pivot; consider getting a 4th shot …… which we really would not like to do ……or pivot.
Switching flight destinations comes with higher prices especially now and it’s only going to get worse.
