The State of Qatar has issued a new travel policy, further relaxing the restrictions and making travelling to Qatar from around the world easier. The State has expanded its green list of the countries to 188. Fully-vaccinated travellers from these countries are exempt from hotel quarantine and no longer need a PCR test before travel to Qatar.
For fully-vaccinated travellers from the high-risk countries, the new policy has not only cut down the hotel quarantine duration from 10 to only two days, it has also conditionally approved Sinovac and Sputnik V vaccines along with Sinopharm. The approval of new vaccines will make travel easier for tens of thousands of people inoculated with these shots.
There are now 188 countries on the green list, 15 on the red list, and 9 on the exceptional red list: India, Pakistan, Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Indonesia and Kenya. Ehteraz mobile application can now be activated using an international SIM card. The Ministry of Public Health has also fixed the maximum rates for COVID-19 related tests in Qatar. PCR test costs are now capped at QAR160, while rapid antigen or antibody test can be done within QAR50.
The government has gradually lifted the pandemic-related restrictions in recent months after carrying out a successful mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign. More than 82 percent of the total population is now fully vaccinated with two doses, one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. A total of 4,744,058 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered since the start of the vaccination programme. Qatar’s efficient vaccination campaign, coupled with effective implementation of preventive measures and a state-of-the-art healthcare system, has saved many lives during the pandemic. As a result, the new daily COVID-19 cases have significantly fallen in recent months. While the government implemented a successful campaign against the pandemic domestically, it also put in place an effective quarantine policy for travellers from high-risk countries. The Ministry of Public Health has been monitoring and updating the travel policy as per the evolving COVID-19 situation and vaccination around the world.
Following the evolving medical research, the authorities have also rolled out booster shots for the elderly and people with low immunity and are contacting the people who need a booster vaccine dose.
Qatar has done exceedingly well in handling the pandemic and has moved to gradual return to normalcy. The pandemic, however, is not over and the virus is present among the community. Though the increased vaccination has added a layer of protection against the infection, people must continue to follow the guidelines by the MoPH and other authorities.
