Qatar scraps hotel quarantine for fully vaccinated and recovered residents

HIA Qatar

The Ministry of Public Health announced a new update on the Covid-19 travel and return policy to Qatar, which will come into force on Monday, February 28, at 7 pm Qatar time.

This update comes in conjunction with the noticeable decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, and the success of vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 in Qatar.

As part of the travel and return policy updates to Qatar, the Ministry of Public Health has changed the lists of country classifications according to the risks of Covid-19 from green, red and exceptional red to Standard Health Measures and Red Health Measures.

The countries in Red list are: Bangladesh, Egypt, Georgia, India, Jordan, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Citizens coming from countries with standard health measures don’t require a PCR test before coming to Qatar. If Fully Vaccinated or Recovered then they are exempted from quarantine and need Rapid Antigen Test within 24 hours of arrival. 

Unvaccinated / Non-Immune will need 5 days home quarantine and need PCR test within 24 hours of arrival, plus Rapid Antigen Test on day 5 of home quarantine.
Citizens coming from Red health measure countries don’t need PCR test if Fully Vaccinated or Recovered and are exempted from quarantine. They will need Rapid Antigen Test within 24 hours of arrival.

Those citizens who are Unvaccinated or Non-Immune must submit a negative pre-travel PCR lab result with validity of 48 hours from departure time at the country of origin and will need 5 days home quarantine. They will need PCR test within 24 hours of arrival, plus Rapid Antigen Test on day 5 of home quarantine.

Residents coming from countries with standard health measures don’t require a PCR test before coming to Qatar. If Fully Vaccinated or Recovered, then they are exempted from quarantine and need Rapid Antigen Test within 24 hours of arrival. 

Unvaccinated / Non-Immune residents will need 5 days home quarantine and need PCR test within 24 hours of arrival, plus Rapid Antigen Test on day 5 of home quarantine.

Residents coming from Red health measure countries don’t need PCR test if Fully Vaccinated or Recovered and are exempted from quarantine. They will need Rapid Antigen Test within 24 hours of arrival.

Those residents who are Unvaccinated or Non-Immune must submit a negative pre-travel PCR lab result with validity of 48 hours from departure time at the country of origin and will need 5 days hotel quarantine. They will need Rapid Antigen Test on day 5 of Hotel quarantine.

Visitors coming from countries with standard health measures must submit a negative pre-travel PCR lab result with validity of 48 hours from depa?rture time at the country of origin.

If Fully Vaccinated or Recovered, then they are exempted from quarantine.

If Unvaccinated / Non-Immune then 5 days Hotel, or Home quarantine for those with first-degree relatives (on condition that a proof of relationship and residence is provided). They will need Rapid Antigen Test on day 5 of Hotel/Home quarantine.

Visitors coming from Red health measure countries, if Fully Vaccinated or Recovered must submit a negative pre-travel PCR lab result with validity of 48 hours from departure time at the country of origin. They need 1-day Hotel quarantine and Rapid Antigen Test on day 1 of hotel quarantine.

Unvaccinated or Non-Immune visitors are not allowed entry.

Fully Vaccinated: Anyone who received any of the COVID-19 vaccine approved/recognized by the Ministry of Public Health within its immunity validity period: 
- Valid for nine (9) months from fourteen (14) days after 2nd dose or booster dose vaccination of Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zenica COVID-19 vaccines.
- Valid for nine (9) months from 2 weeks after the 1st dose of Jansen & Jansen COVID-19 vaccine; or valid for nine (9) months from seven (7) days of receiving the booster dose of Jansen & Jansen COVID-19 vaccine.
- Valid for six (6) months from fourteen (14) days after the 2nd dose or booster dose of conditionally approved COVID-19 vaccines, where a positive Serology on Antibody Test lab result is required and is valid for 30 days from testing; If the traveler is unable to take a Serology Antibody test in the country of origin or if the Antibody test result appears negative, the traveler must undergo relevant quarantine for 5 days; Those who received booster dose using MOPH approved vaccines immune status is extended to nine (9) months from seven (7) days after the booster dose and Serology Antibody test is no longer required.

• Recovered: Anyone who had a medically confirmed COVID-19 infection acquired either locally or overseas is considered to have immune status valid for nine (9) months from the date of the infection. There should be an official and verifiable laboratory test result as evidence of the past infection.

• Unvaccinated / Non-immune: Anyone who does not meet any of the above criteria.

Qatar changes Covid-19 country lists; 9 countries in Red Health Measure list 

Qatar has removed green and exceptional red lists from the Covid-19 list of countries. Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has announced that there will be only two classifications – standard health measures and red health measures.

Countries subject to red health measures are Bangladesh, Egypt, Georgia, India, Jordan, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

The news Covid-19 travel and return policy to Qatar, which will come into force on Monday, February 28, at 7 pm Qatar time.

Qatar has removed hotel quarantine and PCR test requirements for all fully vaccinated or recovered citizens and residents even if they are coming from countries in Red Health Measures. 
The unvaccinated or non-immune residents will have a 5-day hotel quarantine if coming from Red Health Measures countries and 5-day home quarantine if coming from Standard Health Measure countries.  

Fully Vaccinated
Anyone who received any of the COVID-19 vaccine approved/recognized by the Ministry of Public Health within its immunity validity period: 
- Valid for nine (9) months from fourteen (14) days after 2nd dose or booster dose vaccination of Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zenica COVID-19 vaccines.
- Valid for nine (9) months from 2 weeks after the 1st dose of Jansen & Jansen COVID-19 vaccine; or valid for nine (9) months from seven (7) days of receiving the booster dose of Jansen & Jansen COVID-19 vaccine.
- Valid for six (6) months from fourteen (14) days after the 2nd dose or booster dose of conditionally approved COVID-19 vaccines, where a positive Serology on Antibody Test lab result is required and is valid for 30 days from testing; If the traveler is unable to take a Serology Antibody test in the country of origin or if the Antibody test result appear negative, the traveler must undergo relevant quarantine for 5 days; Those who received booster dose using MOPH approved vaccines immune status is extended to nine (9) months from  seven (7) days after the booster dose and Serology Antibody test is no longer required.
• Recovered: Anyone who had a medically confirmed COVID-19 infection acquired either locally or overseas is considered to have immune status valid for nine (9) months from the date of the infection. There should be an official and verifiable laboratory test result as evidence of the past infection.
• Unvaccinated / Non-immune: Anyone who does not meet any of the above criteria. 

Travelers who are vaccinated outside Qatar are required to submit the original vaccine certificate and any other supporting documents –in Arabic or English language– as a proof that they have obtained the vaccine and should at least include the following information:
- The name of the traveler must be identical to that on the passport.
- Doses and dates of vaccine given (one dose for Jansen vaccine and two doses for other vaccines).
- Type/name of vaccine.
- The serial number of the vaccine batch and QR code (if available).

Qatar updates Covid-19 travel and return policy; PCR test not required for some 

The Ministry of Public Health announced a new update on the Covid-19 travel and return policy to Qatar, which will come into force on Monday, February 28, at 7 pm Qatar time.

This update comes in conjunction with the noticeable decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, and the success of vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 in Qatar.

The policy updates include a revision of the previous Green, Red, Exceptional Red country list classification, with the new policy featuring two categories of countries 1) Standard Health Measures 2) Red-List Health Measures.

The testing requirement before traveling to Qatar has also been changed to within 48 hours from departure time at the country of origin, while Qatar Citizens and Residents are not required to bring PCR test before returning to Qatar, regardless of the departure country unless they are unvaccinated/non-immune coming from any of the countries that are subject to the Red Health Measures.

The Ministry of Public Health stressed that the policy of travel and return to the State of Qatar is a major criterion in the success of the State of Qatar's strategy to combat Covid-19, by applying many precautionary measures to those coming to Qatar, which effectively contributed to recording the lowest rates of deaths due to the Covid-19 virus in the world.

Fully Vaccinated: Anyone who received any of the COVID-19 vaccine approved/recognized by the Ministry of Public Health within its immunity validity period: 

- Valid for nine (9) months from fourteen (14) days after 2nd dose or booster dose vaccination of Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zenica COVID-19 vaccines.

- Valid for nine (9) months from 2 weeks after the 1st dose of Jansen & Jansen COVID-19 vaccine; or valid for nine (9) months from seven (7) days of receiving the booster dose of Jansen & Jansen COVID-19 vaccine.

- Valid for six (6) months from fourteen (14) days after the 2nd dose or booster dose of conditionally approved COVID-19 vaccines, where a positive Serology on Antibody Test lab result is required and is valid for 30 days from testing; If the traveler is unable to take a Serology Antibody test in the country of origin or if the Antibody test result appear negative, the traveler must undergo relevant quarantine for 5 days; Those who received booster dose using MOPH approved vaccines immune status is extended to nine (9) months from  seven (7) days after the booster dose and Serology Antibody test is no longer required.

• Recovered: Anyone who had a medically confirmed COVID-19 infection acquired either locally or overseas is considered to have immune status valid for nine (9) months from the date of the infection. There should be an official and verifiable laboratory test result as evidence of the past infection.

• Unvaccinated / Non-immune: Anyone who does not meet any of the above criteria. 
Travelers who are vaccinated outside Qatar are required to submit the original vaccine certificate and any other supporting documents –in Arabic or English language– as a proof that they have obtained the vaccine and should at least include the following information:

- The name of the traveler must be identical to that on the passport.
- Doses and dates of vaccine given (one dose for Jansen vaccine and two doses for other vaccines).
- Type/name of vaccine.
- The serial number of the vaccine batch and QR code (if available).