DOH Plans to Exempt Vaccinated Pinoys Abroad for COVID-19 Tests

The Department of Health (DOH) is currently exploring the plan to exempt Filipinos who are fully vaccinated abroad from COVID-19 tests.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that current government guidelines only allow Filipinos who are fully vaccinated in the country to be exempted from the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing.

The DOH has implemented “green lanes” for those who are fully vaccinated in the country. Green lanes allow fully vaccinated individuals in the country who return from abroad to only quarantine for seven days.

After their quarantine, if they are not exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 they are discharged from the quarantine facility.

DOH is also planning to implement the green lane for Filipinos who are fully vaccinated abroad.

“We’re recommending the same to those vaccinated abroad going back here, but we haven’t finalized that we need means of verification of their vaccine status or their vaccination cards,” Vergeire said in a PNA article.

On Friday, June 18, 2021, the government announced that the start of the implementation of the seven-day facility-based quarantine for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and travelers who have been fully vaccinated in the country will be on June 22 this year. (ASC)