I see Austria has dumped a spanner in the works
According to various new outlets…. this being one example below
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/austria-travel-covid-vaccine-expiry-b1904529.html
Austria has said that Vax passports are only valid for entry into Austria for 270 days post “jab”
So for anyone vaxxed in January 2021 will have the validity on their vax passport cease in Nov 2021
Yes there are testing and quarantining options instead
Austrian ski season 2021/22 anyone……?
We will get a third shot here according to the health authorities.
I have to wonder if they simply love this situation, and like to drag it out as long as possible. I mean, one shot is OK. Two shots is also OK considering this is how the vaccines are designed. But three shots? Enough is enough IMO.
LeSving wrote:
I have to wonder if they simply love this situation, and like to drag it out as long as possible. I mean, one shot is OK. Two shots is also OK considering this is how the vaccines are designed. But three shots? Enough is enough IMO.
AFAIU it is not yet clear that a third shot will make any difference. (Unless it is tailored to a different variant of the virus.)
Airborne_Again wrote:
AFAIU it is not yet clear that a third shot will make any difference.
Not correct. There is a subpopulation of vaccinated patients where we have clear evidence that the antibody titer in the blood is decreasing comparatively quickly. It is not yet well understood why that happens and hence it is hard to identify those patients without direct diagnostic of the antibody levels in the blood. But there is clear data that this is a relevant share of the population (i.e. not only few individual cases) and those patients benefit from a third shot.
Therefore we have 2 options: a) Give a third shot to the entire population (if we believe that the downside of a third shoot is negligible and in total we would benefit) or b) do a titer test for the entire population and give the third shot only to those who need it.
In my personal opinion a) is the better option because the downside of the third shot is indeed negligible and the with b) the rules we needed to put in place to protect the population become far too complex…
Malibuflyer wrote:
It is not yet well understood why that happens and hence it is hard to identify those patients without direct diagnostic of the antibody levels in the blood
My (crazy) wife volunteered to test for antibodies 
She has another diagnosis and simply wanted to know. Lots of antibodies so far, and she will for sure be tested more in the future. Will be interesting to see.
A topup vacc will be needed for a lot of travel, with Italy blocking arrivals at 270 days past the 2nd vacc, and Croatia blocking arrivals at 210 days.
Think of this winter’s skiing… I am ok until 7th Feb 2022.
It’s a stupid policy because you can get an antibody test (finger prick) quite cheap – it was never more than £60 here (I did one recently).
Peter wrote:
Think of this winter’s skiing… I am ok until 7th Feb 2022.
Absolutely zero problems as far as I’m concerned, LOL. Much more concerned about getting away from all the snow and cold and hit for Granca at Christmas, but should be OK, perhaps
Malibuflyer wrote:
In my personal opinion a) is the better option because the downside of the third shot is indeed negligible and the with b) the rules we needed to put in place to protect the population become far too complex…
I agree. And it is now the time to start gearing up for this so once people start needing third shots they can get them without hassle. Would be great if the third shots can be gotten at the GP but in any case without long waiting times.
However it would be really good now if we can finally get everyone on their first two shots…. Things are not looking too good over here, with hospitals starting to go into contingency mode again (delaying operations e.t.c.) due to high influx of Covid patients. Still way too many out there not vaccinated.
Swiss International Airline apparently now has made vaccination compulsory for their flight and cabin crews. And it appears as if the government will introduce measures whereas only people with the certificate can visit public places such as the indoors of restaurants e.t.c.
A new variant is blooming apparently. A variant from Columbia, more contagious than the delta variant. So, if Pizer et al has geared up for the Delta variant, it’s already too late. The most contagious variant will exterminate the others.
Hmmm I recommend reading some other newspapers…
