MANILA - The government on Sunday allowed interzonal travel for all fully-vaccinated individuals provided that they present a domestic vaccination card or certificate of isolation issued by the Bureau of Quarantine.

A COVID-19 domestic vaccination card duly signed by a legitimate vaccinating establishment or certificate of quarantine completion showing the holder’s vaccination status as issued by the Bureau of Quarantine shall be sufficient alternatives to any testing requirement, said Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, citing the Inter-Agency Task Force Resolution No. 124-B.

Travelers who have received 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine need to undergo health and exposure screening upon arrival in the local government of destination, according to Roque.

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

The protocol also applies to senior citizens, he added.

• COVID-19 task force lifts stay-at-home rule for fully vaccinated seniors in some areas

In the event that a fully vaccinated person is a close contact of probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases, they may undergo shortened quarantine only if they remain asymptomatic for the duration of the 7-day period, Malacañang said.

If there is a need for RT-PCR testing, this may be done not earlier than the fifth day after the date of the last exposure, it said.

Testing and quarantine will not be required for close contacts who may have been traced beyond the 7th day from the last exposure and who remained asymptomatic, it added.

Prescribed testing and isolation protocols will follow if a confirmatory swab test or yields a positive result or the individual becomes symptomatic, Roque said.

A total of 2,727,442 individuals have been fully vaccinated in the country, accounting for 4.7 percent of the minimum 58 million this year to achieve herd immunity.

The Philippines as of Saturday tallied a total of 1,430,419 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 25,063 deaths and 53,665 active infections.

RELATED VIDEO

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv