Philippines is exempt from quarantine for vaccinated tourists

From February 10, visitors from 157 countries and territories, including Vietnam, fully vaccinated with two doses of Covid-19 vaccine can enter without isolation.

The above notice was announced by the government on January 28. The condition to enjoy this policy is to have two doses of Covid-19 vaccine and have a negative test certificate for nCoV upon entry. For repatriated Filipino citizens, this policy will be applied from February 1.

Tourists relax on the beach in Boracay, Aklan province on December 1, 2021. Photo: Reuters

This move is believed to contribute to the recovery of the tourism industry, which has been severely affected in the past two years, according to Tourism Minister Berna Romulo-Puyat. He believes that when reopening to welcome visitors, people will have more jobs, thereby improving their livelihoods.

Deputy Health Minister Maria Rosario Vergeire said that from February 16, international visitors who have not received two doses of the vaccine will be banned from entering the country. Before that, these people were still approved, and were subject to government quarantine regulations. One of them is to quarantine at designated hotels for 10-14 days.

The Philippines, a country with more than 7,600 islands, intends to open its doors to international visitors from the beginning of December 2021. However, the plan had to be postponed because of the outbreak of the new variant Omicron. Currently, more than 50 million people out of 110 million people in this country are vaccinated with two doses.