KUALA LUMPUR: The European Union has accepted Malaysia's Covid-19 vaccine certificates effective today.
In a report, European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen said the EU had accepted Malaysia's vaccine certificates in equivalence with the EU's Digital Covid-19 Certificate.
"Covid-19 vaccination and test certificates issued by Malaysia in accordance with the 'Vaccine Management System' shall, for the purpose of facilitating the right of free movement within the Union, be considered as equivalent to those issued in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/953.
"Malaysia shall be connected to the EU Digital Covid Certificate trust framework established by Regulation (EU) 2021/953.
"This decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union," she said in the report published today (April 4).
The Regulation (EU) 2021/953 lays down a framework for the issuance, verification and acceptance of interoperable Covid-19 vaccination, tests and recovery certificates for the purpose of facilitating the holders' exercise of their right to free movement during the pandemic.
Malaysia in its report to the EU stated its MySejahtera application issued Covid-19 vaccination certificates for shots by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford, Sinovac, CanSino and Sinopharm.
It said the MySejahtera application also contains coronavirus test certificates for nucleic acid amplification tests such as the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) but not rapid antigen tests.
The report also said Malaysia does not issue certificates of recovery from Covid-19.
EU ambassador to Malaysia Michalis Rokas also shared the news on his Twitter account.
"Some great news: The EU has accepted Malaysia's request for establishing the equivalence between EU's Digital Covid Certificate and Malaysia's MySejahtera.
"A booster for business and tourism," he said.