Incoming Filipino and foreign travelers fully vaccinated abroad must still undergo the government's "regular quarantine and testing protocols" upon arrival in the country, Malacañang said Friday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said these travelers who completed their coronavirus vaccination overseas are still required to complete 10 days of quarantine at an accredited facility.
Roque made the clarification after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) issued new entry protocols for inbound travelers inoculated in the Philippines, including a shorter quarantine stay at a facility.
"The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), in its Resolution No. 119, resolved that all arriving fully vaccinated individuals, who have been inoculated in the Philippines shall be required to undergo a 7-day facility-based quarantine upon arrival," Roque said in a statement Friday, June 4.
"This does not cover foreign nationals, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Filipinos who have been fully vaccinated abroad. They have to undergo the regular quarantine and testing protocols, which is, to complete a 10-day facility-based quarantine," he said.
The IATF has issued Resolution No. 119 requiring inbound international travelers "who have been vaccinated in the Philippines" to undergo a seven-day facility-based quarantine upon arrival. The arriving passenger must also take a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test only when the person shows coronavirus symptoms while on quarantine.
READ: Persons fully vaccinated in PH allowed to re-enter country
Early May, the government task force revised the testing and quarantine protocols for incoming international travelers to the country.
Arriving travelers regardless of vaccination status must undergo 14 days of quarantine -- the first 10 days in an accredited quarantine facility and the remaining four days in isolation at residence. The traveler will undergo a swab test on the seventh day of their quarantine.
READ: Gov't imposes 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving in PH; COVID testing on 7th day
The government earlier suspended the entry of certain foreign nationals, including tourists, as a precaution against the coronavirus spread. Except for travelers coming from India and six other countries, foreigners with valid and existing visas have been gradually allowed to enter the country subject to certain quarantine and testing protocols.
READ: PH extends travel ban on India, 6 other countries until mid-June
The testing and quarantine protocols were issued to boost safeguards against the spread of new coronavirus variants in the country.
More than 1.2 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the country since the pandemic started last year. Of this number, over 21,00 have died from the illness.
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