Thailand may reduce quarantine to 7 days, meeting to confirm next Monday

The Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, said that the National Communicable Disease Committee proposed two guidelines when the country reopens its borders, to help spur the economy. The first is the use of vaccine passports to enable people who have been inoculated to travel abroad. The first group to receive this privilege is the recipients of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine. They received the first shot on February 28 and will receive the second on March 21 for free. If they request to travel abroad, they are required to pay a minimum 50-baht fee for vaccine certificate.
The plan to reduce the mandatory quarantine period from 14 days to seven days is eligible for foreign nationals who must be vaccinated at least 14 days or no more than three months and they must carry a COVID-19 vaccination certificate. However, the quarantine period for people arriving from Africa remains at 14 days. The quarantine period for Thai citizens who have been vaccinated but do not carry a certificate is reduced to seven days. A 10-day quarantine period is applied to foreign nationals who carry a COVID-19-free certificate but have not been vaccinated. Those arriving from Africa are still subject to a 14-day quarantine. The plan will take effect on April 1 this year.
In October, the government will consider lifting further restrictions, after 70 percent of medical personnel, vulnerable groups as well as people working in the tourism industry receive the vaccination. The government will also monitor the vaccines’ side effects at this time.
Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, said the government is waiting for the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue its quarantine and international travel guidelines. The government will hold a meeting with entrepreneurs who wish to import COVID-19 vaccines into the country. They will discuss the procedures, the origin of imported vaccines and related issues. Vaccines cannot be imported freely at this time, so that the situation remains under control while preventing contamination.
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