Saudi Arabia: Vaccinated travellers exempted from quarantine
Travelers must have vaccination certificates attested by authorities in their country
Dubai: Travellers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not have to quarantine upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, local media reported.
According to the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), travellers must have vaccination certificates attested by authorities in their home country.
GACA has set a seven-day quarantine for foreign travellers who have not been vaccinated yet. The approved vaccines include Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson.
The GACA clarified that Saudi citizens, husbands of Saudi female citizens, sons and daughters of Saudis, will be exempted from the institutional quarantine in addition to their domestic workers (provided that a 7-day home quarantine is applied to non-vaccinated workers, and a PCR test is done on the sixth day. They must also adhere to precautionary measures specified by the Ministry of Health).
Domestic workers of Saudi residents will also be exempted from institutional quarantine provided that a 7-day home quarantine is applied to non-vaccinated workers, and a PCR test is done on the sixth day. They must also adhere to precautionary measures specified by the Ministry of Health.
This is in addition to official delegations, holders of a diplomatic visa, diplomats and their families, air navigation crews and those involved in health supply chains.
Earlier last week, Saudi Arabia lifted the ban on travellers arriving from a select group of countries including the UAE and the UK, where coronavirus cases are coming down.
An official source at the ministry said that visitors from the UAE, Germany, the United States, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, France and Japan will be allowed to enter the kingdom from Sunday (May 30).
Also on May 16, Saudi Arabia’s national carrier Saudia Airlines resumed operating its international flights to 30 international destinations after the Kingdom’s decision to lift the suspension on citizens travelling abroad took effect. It said it will operate 153 scheduled flights every week from Riyadh, and 178 flights from Jeddah.