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EU agrees to recognise Switzerland’s vaccination certificate

The European Union and Switzerland will recognise each other's Covid vaccination certificates from Friday, July 9th, the European Commission announced on Thursday.

EU agrees to recognise Switzerland's vaccination certificate
Photo: OLIVIER MORIN / AFP

This month, 27 EU member states along with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein adopted common standards to read digital coronavirus certificates.

Proof of vaccination or acquired immunity via a recognised certificate can help travellers avoid restrictions like quarantine on arrival.

But member states remain in charge of their own border rules, and reserve the right to impose emergency controls if the epidemic situation deteriorates.

“I warmly welcome that the Swiss authorities have decided to implement a system based on the EU Digital COVID Certificate,” EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders said.

“As a result, the certificate will not only facilitate free movement within the EU, but also between the EU and Switzerland. “This will allow EU citizens and Swiss nationals to travel safely and more freely this summer.”

The EU document — essentially a QR code available on smartphones or paper — shows whether the bearer is vaccinated, recovered from an infection or recently tested negative.

The EU is in talks with several countries from outside the EU and the EAA economic area, including Britain and Russia, about recognising each other’s certificates.

What is the Covid immunity pass?

This passport, in the form of a QR code on a smartphone or printed out on a piece of paper, must be presented by each traveler at the border.

It includes identification data and information relating to vaccination (type of vaccine, number of doses received), screening (date of test, negative or positive result), and even serological analysis, namely if the traveler had Covid and has antibodies.

READ MORE: How to get Switzerland’s Covid-19 health pass

Switzerland’s Covid-19 immunity certificate has been available since June 7th – and now has a linked app which makes the digitalisation process easier. 

Both apps are available for free. Here is the link for the Apple App store here, and that for Android.  

Switzerland’s Covid-19 certificate app up close. Image: FOPH

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Sunshine and traffic jams: What to expect in Switzerland over Pentecost weekend

Another long weekend is ahead, which means heavier-than-usual traffic on Swiss roads and in the air, although the wether forecast is positive. Here’s what you should know.

Sunshine and traffic jams: What to expect in Switzerland over Pentecost weekend

As is the case before every public holiday, traffic jams are to be expected on roads leading to the mountains or to other popular tourist destinations, both in Switzerland and abroad.   

The government has issued a list of places where bottlenecks and other disruptions are most likely to happen.

Generally, slow traffic / bottlenecks are most likely on these roads:

Highways

A1, Harkingen – Wangen a.A.
A1, Aarau-East – Birrfeld
A1/A6, Bern region
A1, Geneva (Bardonnex border post)
A9, Lausanne region
A2/A3, Basel
A2, Diegten – Harkingen
A2/A14, Lucerne region (from Stans-Nord / in the direction of return)
A2, Erstfeld – Biasca (Gothard road tunnel)
A2, Lugano-Mendrisio
A2, Chiasso (border post towards Italy)
A3, Walenstadt-Reichenburg
A6, Bern – Thun
A8, Brienz – Interlaken – Spiez
A9, Vevey-Martigny
A12 Châtel-St-Denis – La Veyre / Vevey interchange
A13, Sarganserland – Thusis-South
A13, Andeer-Mesocco
A13, Bellinzona-Nord – Reichenau
A15, North Uster – East Uster; between Hinwil and the Reichenburg interchange over several sections

Main roads

Spiez – Kandersteg (in the direction of departures)
Gampel – Goppenstein (in the direction of the returns)
Raron – Brig
Various main roads in the Bernese Oberland, Graubünden and Valais side valleys, and other border crossings
H338, Hirzel – Sihbrugg
H340, Hinwil – Aathal

In the direction of departures, waiting times are to be expected between 8am and 4pm at the transhipment stations Furka in Realp, Lötschberg in Kandersteg and Vereina in Klosters-Selfranga.

In the return direction, waiting times will be possible between 11am and 6pm in Oberwald (Furka), Goppenstein (Lötschberg) and Lavin-Saglians (Vereina).

Authorities are also asking motorists, as they do prior to any public holiday travel period, not to stray off motorways but to stay the course even in traffic jams. That’s because making such detours “overloads the secondary road network to the point of paralysis of traffic, and greatly increases the risk of accidents for all road users.”

What about the airports?

All three of Switzerland’s international airports — Zurich, Geneva, and Basel — typically experience an onslaught on passengers at this time of the year..

Therefore, expect longer-than-usual wait times, arriving early enough to make it through check-in and security lines.

A bit of good news…

The weather forecast for the holiday weekend is great.

It will be mostly sunny, with temperatures in all regions reaching mid-20C.

MeteoSwiss weather service

Which cantons are not off on Monday?

Pentecost (also known as Whit Monday) is a public holiday in most Swiss cantons.

The only ones that don’t celebrate it (and where Monday is a regular work day) are Neuchâtel, Solothurn, Valais, and Zug.

READ ALSO: When are the Swiss public holidays in your canton in 2023?

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