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I am a crazy person…so with that in mind…The only people concerned about a 6 month effectiveness of the vaccines is the news media. Listening to the response of the vaccine makers, there is no immediate plan to produce a boster…that is also tied into the news media coverage of these rouge virus variants which sounds bad but once again the vaccine makers still say the current vaccine is effective against them….yes more contagious. The answer is get vaccinated.
I would be very surprised if a country would place any time limit on a vaccine cut off date at this point.
Richard, the announcement today was specific. It said 6 months. Until Switzerland removes it from their conditions, I’m going to consider it something to take into account. And I am vaccinated. That’s the issue. I will be past my 6 months when I leave for the country (or I’ll have to change my dates again).
Judy
Sorry Judy..I did say I was crazy. I did not see an announcement. where is it?
It came to my inbox from Switzerland Tourism. This is what it said. Since it still needs to be ratified on the 23rd, I’m hoping the 6 months might disappear.
“We are very pleased to announce that Switzerland will open to fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. and Canada as of June 28, 2021 (ratified by parliament on June 23). Neither quarantine nor a negative Covid-19 test will be required to enter Switzerland.
All travelers entering Switzerland by plane, with a proof that they have been fully vaccinated (within the last 6 month), must complete the online form of the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH for incoming travelers.
Further information about the border reopening can be found here.”
Hello everyone, this might be a silly question, but I’m not sure if having a layover in Switzerland (Zürich) is allowed. I’m planning to travel in July from USA to Serbia. I’m a Serbian citizen that resides in United States and I haven’t been vaccinated.
Hi Tourgypsy
I got the same email from Switzerland Tourism. It also provided for a live chat with an advisor. I asked her the question regarding the 6 months requirement and if that meant we should pursue getting a second vaccination ( mine was almost 10 months ago as part of Moderna’s phase 3 trial) or hope a booster becomes available before our September departure ( very unlikely ) or hope the requirement is dropped ( risky and potentially expensive if my trip is canceled at the last minute ).
The adviser was sympathetic to my dilemma and advised me to wait and see what actually gets approved by the Swiss government the end of June. She had no idea if the change will involve waiving the 6 months requirement but thought it possible. Apparently the final details have not been determined or at least not been made public yet. Fingers crossed. Of course it makes no sense to keep the 6 month requirement (see my previous post), but common sense and government policy don’t necessarily follow each other. Forgive my cynicism.
Personally I plan to see what the requirements actually are when made public in early July and if there is no change in the 6 months requirement then I will pursue getting a J & J one shot vaccine probably in late July or early Aug prior to our Sept trip. Sad.
Mark
Mark,
I think we are in the same boat in a sense. I have a trip planned for September 7-23. I too got my vaccine early (in December and second shot in January) because I’m a nurse so my company offered it right away. I read your earlier post about possibly getting the J&J vaccine but I don’t want to do something that they aren’t even recommending at all. I feel like I would know about these “booster” shots since I work in health care and like you I follow these things very closely. I have not heard anything about a booster and if it were to happen I would imagine winter time. We would basically need our boosters in August. I have not received any advice or guidance on booster shots. Anyway, I hope too that this 6 month thing is changed! I guess we will wait and see. Thanks
Amy
Hi all!
We just learned that the validity of the official Swiss vaccination document will be extended from 6 to 12 months. So we have good hopes that Switzerland will accept other vaccination documents for a similar period as well. We’re not sure yet though. Fingers crossed!
Hi Tourgypsy. The duration of 6 months and 11 days was shared with us by Switzerland Tourism last week. If you’d rather be on the safe side, you can assume a 6-month period. Note that this period might be extended.
Thank you. I’m working on an “alternate” plan and will look forward to the 23rd/28th. I am lucky – I have the flexibility to add extra time, if necessary, in the country. Just hope they don’t place a limit on how long you can stay AFTER the 6 months. That might really throw a wrench into the trip.
Hi Tiki! That’s certainly not a silly question. If you don’t leave the airport, I think this will count as a transit stay and in that case it might be possible to fly via Zurich, even though you’re not vaccinated. I’m not sure though. I advise you to check with your airline and/or the Swiss infoline for travelers (phone number +41 58 464 44 88).
I read on my airline site that in-transit folks didn’t have to be vaccinated UNLESS it was required by their final destination. Makes sense to me.
Just received this email from Swiss Tourism:
We are very pleased to announce that Switzerland will open to fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. as of June 28, 2021*. Neither quarantine nor a negative Covid-19 test will be required to enter Switzerland. For more details click here. Unfortunately, travelers from Canada (also fully vaccinated) can not enter Switzerland yet until further notice. We hope this will become possible soon and we will inform you.
The proof of vaccination is valid for 12 months, starting two weeks after receiving the second shot. This may be subject to change.
Here is the link for complete details – > corner.stnet.ch/trade-us/?page_id=5901
HAPPY DAY!!!
Great news. We have all been waiting a long time. My wife and I are from the US and both of us are fully vaccinated. We will have one more hurdle to jump. We are flying into Amsterdam in September, boarding a 7 day River Cruise that lets us out in Basel and then we start our 10 day train trip in Switzerland. The regulations indicate it is for people flying directly into Switzerland, so we will have to see how this rolls out.
Thanks for the update
Joejax
I haven’t seen the “directly into Switzerland” comment before. Can you direct me to where this might be? My flights transit through Heathrow and I’m trying to see if that’s going to cause an issue. I know I need a negative PCR or antigen to do the transit (according to the British regs), but not sure how going through that airport will affect getting to Switzerland.
Thanks.
The link from Switzerland Trade Corner that was inserted in your earlier message indicates that “Switzerland will be open to fully vaccined travelers from the US”. The first sentance in the next paragraph states “All travelers entering Switzerland by plane, etc.” I assumed that this indicates that the rule applies to those flying in directly? Maybe I mis-interpruted the statement?
Joejax
I am flying July 2nd from US via Amsterdam to Zurich. I don’t think the airport you transfer in will impact your ability to enter into Switzerland as long as you stay within the terminal area of the transfer airport. At least that’s my interpretation of it. Also, for me there are currently no direct flights to Zurich. Everything is either thru Amsterdam or Paris (flying via Delta/KLM).
We are arriving into Switzerland by boat. I am sure that the River Cruise line will make the arrangements to be sure we are allowed to enter the country. We will have to wait and see. I am optomistic! Thanks for your feedback.
Joejax
Hi all! It’s good to see the 12-month validity period for US vaccination documents confirmed now. I expect Switzerland to apply a similar period to many (or all) other vaccination documents, but we’re waiting for confirmation. This certainly is a positive step forward!
Transit flights via other countries generally won’t be a problem, as long as one doesn’t leave the transit airport area. I recommend to always check with your airline though. These are the current rules concerning transit flights, as stated at https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/sem/aktuell/faq-einreiseverweigerung.html:
“The country you are entering from is generally the country from which you have just arrived. If travelling by air on a direct flight, you enter Switzerland from the country in which the aircraft took off. If you fly via one or more transit airports – without leaving the international transit area – you enter Switzerland from the country in which the aircraft originally took off, not the transit countries. This means that if you begin your journey in a high-risk country and travel in transit via an airport in a non-high-risk country, you are travelling from a high-risk country. If you begin your journey in a non-high-risk country and travel in transit via an airport in a high-risk country, you are travelling from a non-high-risk country – provided you do not leave the airport’s international transit area.”
Note that these are the current rules. We have no exact details for all entrance and transit rules from June 28/July 1 yet, although they should generally become less complex. I think we’ll get more details once the proposed travel regulations are ratified, which should happen by June 23 if all goes well.
Annika, thank you so much for clarifying the flight information. I’m now ready to spend my six weeks in Switzerland. Can’t wait.
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