On Tuesday 11 January 2022, the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg's Parliament) adopted the new provisions modifying the COVID-19 law.
The bill passed with a majority of 31 out of 60 votes. The government parties (Democratic Party - DP, Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party - LSAP and the Greens) voted in favour of the changes whilst the opposition voted against.
The approved changes affect the following aspects of the amended law of 17 July 2020 on measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic:
- The isolation period is set at ten days. This period may end before the ten days are up for anyone who has been fully vaccinated within the last six months, those who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection (less than 180 days since their positive PCR test) and those who have received a booster dose provided they return negative rapid antigen test results on days 5 and 6 of isolation. In the event of negative results, isolation ends on the sixth day. According to Luxembourg's Ministry of State and the Ministry of Health, this reduced isolation period is justified by the fact that these individuals have a lower viral load and a shorter duration of contagiousness. This change also applies to people who are currently self-isolating;
- In agreement with the European Commission, the general validity period for vaccination certificates is set at 270 days (nine months) from the date when a vaccination schedule is considered complete. The validity period for certificates issued following booster shots has not yet been determined;
- The CovidCheck 2G + regime (vaccinated or recovered plus a test) remains in place, but the categories of people who are exempt from having to get tested have been extended to people with a complete vaccination schedule of less than 180 days, those who have received a booster dose and those with a valid recovery certificate. According to Luxembourg's authorities, this adaptation takes into account the experience acquired in a certain number of countries which were affected by the Omicron variant before Luxembourg, and from which it follows that whilst the vaccine efficacy decreases over time, it increases again by significantly after a booster shot.
Luxembourg's Ministry for Digitalisation and the Ministry of Health confirmed that the CovidCheck.lu mobile application has now been adapted to these changes. Anyone who has not activated the automatic app update function on their phone can access the new version of the CovidCheck app via the store from which they downloaded it. Users are also advised to synchronise the app with the national system by going to the application settings and clicking on "Synchronise with the national system".
