Sweden recognizes Togo vaccination passport and introduces entry ban for Namibian citizens
The Swedish authorities have recognized the vaccination certificates issued by Togo’s health authorities, which means that arrivals from these countries are exempt from the entry ban and test requirements when they reach Sweden.
On the other hand, the Swedish Ministry of Justice introduced a travel ban for citizens of Namibia, where both decisions came into force on December 7, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.
The same follows the European Commission’s decision, which legitimizes the vaccination certificates issued in Togo and noted that the documents are considered equivalent to the EU’s digital covid certificate.
This means that such certificates can be verified and verified using the same technical system as the EUDCC. Sweden previously recognized vaccination and recovery certificates from five third countries – New Zealand, Serbia, Georgia, Moldova and Singapore – which allow arrivals from these countries to enter the country exempt from quarantine and test requirements.
“The government has also decided to remove Namibia from the list of countries where residents are generally exempt from the entry ban simply because they live there. This means that the entry ban will be reintroduced for people residing in Namibia.” reads the press release from the Ministry of Justice regarding the restriction ordered for arrivals from Namibia.
>> The EU removes Jordan and Namibia from its COVID-19 list of safe countries for travel
Currently, the epidemiological situation in Namibia and other southern African countries, including Botswana, South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, has worsened due to high levels of covid-19 infections. Concerns about the new variant of covid-19, Omicron, which were discovered in this region of the world, have increased concerns for EU member states, as many of them have banned entry for southern Africans. In addition, in an effort to prevent further spread of the virus, EU member states have ordered stricter entry requirements and stricter national rules.
This change comes a month after the entry ban for Namibian citizens was lifted, announced on November 9, along with the removal of the entry ban for arrivals from Argentina, Columbia and Peru.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) data show that the total number of positive cases in Sweden is 1,207,498, of which 12,878 have been reported in the last seven days. At the same time, two deaths related to the disease have been registered, which brings the death toll in Sweden to 15,161.
In addition, ECDC data show that 70.8 percent of the population in Sweden are partially vaccinated, while 68.1 percent are fully vaccinated against covid-19, about 1.8 percent more than the average vaccination frequency for the EU / EEA population. In addition, the occupancy of third or booster shots is 11.9 percent.