Philippines allows shorter quarantine for travelers vaccinated vs COVID-19 abroad

MANILA — The Philippines from July will allow shorter quarantine for travelers who were fully vaccinated abroad against COVID-19, Malacañang said on Tuesday. 

The government previously limited the shorter, 7-day facility-based quarantine to travelers who are returning to the Philippines after being vaccinated locally. 

Effective July 1, travelers who were fully vaccinated in "green" countries or those with low COVID-19 risk would be allowed to shorten their facility quarantine to 7 days, from the current 10 days, said Palace spokesman Harry Roque. 

These travelers should have "exclusively stayed" in a green country 14 days before arriving in the Philippines. They will be considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after receiving a single-dose COVID-19 shot or the second jab of a 2-dose vaccine, he said in a press briefing. 

They will be required to take an RT-PCR test for the novel coronavirus on the 5th day of their quarantine. Even if they test negative for the pathogen, they will need to complete the 7-day quarantine, Roque said. 

After this, they are urged to watch out for COVID-19 symptoms for the next 7 days, he added. 

The health department, he said, would issue a list of "green" countries. 

"Hintayin na lang po natin 'yan, pero ito 'yong mga bansa na wala pong problema na pagkatiwalaan 'yong kanilang certificate of vaccination," said the Palace official. 

(Let us just wait for that, but these are the countries with which we will have no problem trusting their certificate of vaccination.)

These protocols will be reviewed 30 days after implementation, he said.