I know I should probably go to the Travel section but the unique status of being from Scotland and the different App for NHS Scotland has got me so confused I thought I’d get better info here.
My DS is 18 and very reluctantly got his first Covid jag this January just after he’d turned 18. He had Covid itself late August and sailed through it no problem. He felt more ill after his jag.
He’s going on holiday for a week in July to Greece and this made him get the jag with the hope that he would squeeze in a second and then a booster in good time. He would then be deemed ‘fully vaccinated’.
We’ve just had a conversation where he’s said that he hasn’t got enough time left to get the second jag AND get a booster 14 days before he travels. He also is reluctant to get the 2nd jag now because he’s stressed out with his exam revision and doesn’t want to be ill from the jag. The guy who injected him in July helpfully pointed out to him that the after-effects from the 2nd jag are ‘worse’ and he felt awful for a good 3 days after his first. So he’s really not wanting to make himself ill again. He’s only recently got over an illness that laid him low and put his revision schedule back.
He’s a hard working lad who wants to do well in his exams so I said I’d find a page explaining what the latest rules are and forward it on for him to read himself. But I’m going round in circles!
I know the latest advice changed about 5 days ago. It would appear that you can enter Greece with proof of vaccination or a certificate of recovery from within 180 days. If you are unvaccinated, you can show a negative test taken within 24-72 hours before travel dependent on type of test taken.
Unvaccinated people no longer have to show proof of a negative test for entry into indoor bars and nightclubs.
My question is, if he has one more jag (which means he would have had a total of 2 in the past 6 months) would he get the EU Digital certificate on his NHS Scotland App? Or would he not get one of these because he hasn’t had his booster?
My ideal scenario would be for him to get through his exams and then get his 2nd jag at the end of May. It seems strange to be impressing on him the need to get all theses jags when we’ve just ditched the final preventative measures and it’s mutated to a much milder virus.
But if he doesn’t get this second jag and just gets a PCR test before he goes, then he should be fine to travel anyway shouldn’t he? I’ve also got to purchase him some insurance and that’s opened up a whole new can of worms over whether the additional Covid cover is worth purchasing if you haven’t the status of being ‘fully vaccinated’.
Sorry for the long post. I’m just hoping that someone who is travelling to Greece this summer can share what their understanding of the situation is. Like many Covid-related information, it’s not as clear-cut as you’d think, with many cases of woolly phrasing and contradictory statements, or information that is now out-of-date but still up on websites. I’m a regular name changer by the way and have been on MN for over a decade, lately on the Education boards so know many fellow Scots MN-ers from there 