Germany updates vax pass rules, now requires a jab within 3 months to be 'fully vaccinated'

The German government will be upgrading its contact tracing and vaccine passport app to feature a colour-coded system to show whether a user has received a COVID-19 vaccine in the last three months.

The app, called the Corona-Warn-App, will use one colour for users who add proof showing that they have received a COVID vaccine within the past three months and another colour for those with vaccine records older than three months.

Only users with a colour denoting they have received a vaccine within three months will be exempt from Germany's reimposed mask mandate for indoor public spaces, Reclaim The Net reported.

Exemptions from the country's mask mandate will be granted, but will require proof of recent recovery from COVID-19 or have a negative test. This includes individuals who received multiple COVID-19 vaccines but have not had a dose within the previous three months.

Trudeau's Health Minister says to get a COVID booster every 9 months to stay up to date.

"please see if you're eligible for a second or a third booster, to remain up to date... it's critical that you go and get the shot that's waiting for you."https://t.co/UPKf52AKWu pic.twitter.com/pzBnFQNWVA

— Efron Monsanto 🇨🇦🚜🚛 (@realmonsanto) July 4, 2022

German outlet Berliner Zeitung reports that the colour-coded system will “give different rights in the future,” and notes that a system like this is already in place in China. German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach defended the controversial decision to equate those who have received three or four doses of a COVID vaccine with the unvaccinated, suggesting that it was “absurd” to think that people will be vaccinated every three months from autumn onwards in an attempt to dodge mask requirements.

“No doctor does that, no one wants that,” Lauterbach said, Berliner Zeitung reported. But if the exceptions were to be taken advantage of, “we would change the rule and close the exception,” the health minister explained, pointing out that a broad mask or testing mandate could be put in place instead.

In Canada, Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, and Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal health minister, have both alluded to redefining what “fully vaccinated” means.

“The difficulty, I think, right now is that the federal definition of vaccine mandates is, for travel and administrative purposes, not up to date,” Tam said in June. “I am encouraging everybody to adopt the definition however they look at a policy to reflect the up-to-date need to have the best protection.” 

Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada says she has already asked for upping the vaccine passport to 3+ doses to the government:

"the difficulty I think right now is that the federal definition of vaccine mandates... is not up to date"https://t.co/UPKf52AKWu pic.twitter.com/rMadazAAjU

— Efrain Flores Monsanto 🇨🇦🚜🚛 (@realmonsanto) June 12, 2022

“But what exactly do we mean by up-to-date vaccination?” Duclos asked rhetorically during an early July press conference. “Let me be very clear,” Canada's health minister said. “Up to date means you have received your last dose in the past nine months. If you've already received your first booster, that's great,” Duclos continued. “Please see if you're eligible for a second or a third booster to remain up to date.”

Trudeau's Health Minister says to get a COVID booster every 9 months to stay up to date.

"please see if you're eligible for a second or a third booster, to remain up to date... it's critical that you go and get the shot that's waiting for you."https://t.co/UPKf52AKWu pic.twitter.com/pzBnFQNWVA

— Efron Monsanto 🇨🇦🚜🚛 (@realmonsanto) July 4, 2022

Last September, Tam addressed a question about whether or not vaccine passports worked to boost uptake. “We don't have good evaluation or statistics except that provinces individually have said, I think in the media, that they saw an increase in uptake,” Tam said at the time.