MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2022) Israel and Russia are discussing the technical details of mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates, Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi said on Tuesday.
"About a week ago, the health ministries of our countries held online consultations on this topic (the recognition of vaccination certificates). This is a technical issue, there are technical details for QR codes to be read... We are now at this stage and we are communicating on this issue," the diplomat told reporters.
He noted that Russian vaccine Sputnik V has already been recognized in Israel for tourist arrivals.
Last week, the Russian embassy in Israel said that the country's government agreed to regard certificates of the Sputnik Light vaccination obtained in Russia as a booster dose. Additionally, the period of self-isolation for arrivals in Israel vaccinated with Sputnik V cannot exceed 24 hours and ends upon receipt of a positive antibody test and a negative PCR test.
In early November 2021, Israel allowed entry for arrivals vaccinated with WHO-approved vaccines, including Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Covishield, Sinovac, and Sinopharm.
The government planned to reopen the country for visitors vaccinated with Sputnik V on November 15, then December 1. However, in late November, the authorities temporarily barred all arrivals over the spread of the Omicron variant.
Israel reopened for vaccinated and recovered tourists on January 9.
