Lithuania introduces best before period to its Covid-19 certificate

In Lithuania, changes to the process of issuing the country’s national Covid-19 certificate – the opportunity pass – come into force on Wednesday, December 1, and to its term of validity, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reports.
As of December 1, the Lithuanian opportunity pass (galimybių pasas) – issued after vaccination, recovery from Covid-19 or recent negative test results – will no longer be issued after a rapid antigen test.
The validity period of the PCR test will be extended from 48 hours to 72 hours.
People will be allowed to take a serological antibody test not only after contracting Covid-19, but also after vaccination.
Only PCR tests will be available at the mobile testing stations. Registrations for rapid antigen tests at the mobile stations after December 1 will be cancelled.
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The opportunity pass will be valid for seven months (210 days) after the second shot (or the first one for those inoculated with the Janssen vaccine).
After this period, people will have to do an antibody test. If they have enough antibodies, their Covid certificates will be extended for 60 days.
If the antibodies are too low, Lithuanian residents will have to be vaccinated with a booster shot to obtain the Covid certificate.
As of Wednesday, testing of workers in certain occupations who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 will no longer be funded by the government.
According to the Lithuanian Health Ministry, the government will still fund Covid-19 testing for people in the following groups:
– people with Covid-19 symptoms;
– people who have been exposed to Covid-19;
– people before hospitalisation;
– people returning from abroad;
– people with a positive antigen test result;
– people who cannot get vaccination due to medical reasons and pregnant women.
The article originally appeared on LRT English: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1554317/pandemic-management-changes-in-lithuania-what-you-need-to-know