COVID-19 vaccine takers may be allowed to travel without quarantine: Official

COVID-19 vaccine takers may be allowed to travel without quarantine: Official

A person who has taken two doses of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine may be allowed to travel and return without the need to undergo quarantine, a senior health official has said.

"The obvious and principled thing is that we give the vaccination in order to say that this person who received the two doses and passed by a week after the second dose is a person immune to the virus. That means he/she does not contract the disease and does not transmit it to others. This is the ultimate goal of vaccination. One of the benefits of the vaccination is that the vaccine recipient can travel and return without needing to undergo quarantine," Dr Yousef Al Maslamani, Medical Director of Hamad General Hospital, told Qatar TV.

During a programme on Qatar TV on Monday, in response to the question “will returnees who took the second dose of the Covid 19 vaccine be quarantined”? Dr Yousef Al Maslamani, Medical Director of Hamad General Hospital, said that so far there is no decision from the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management in this regard.

He explained during the TV programme Al Masafa Al Ijtimaia (Social Distancing) that “we give the vaccination to a person so that a week after the second dose the person is immune to the virus and does not contract the disease nor transmit it to others and does not suffer from symptoms. This is the ultimate goal of vaccination and one of the benefits of vaccination will be that a person would be able to travel and return without quarantine.”

He didn’t mention when or how it will be implemented. 

Regarding some countries subjecting people with vaccination card to coronavirus examination, Dr Al Maslamani said, "When you go to a country and they conduct an examination that does not mean that they do not recognize the certificate (vaccinations) that you have, but to make sure the vaccinations are effective. We will also do the same. When people return, we will take a sample from them to ensure the efficacy of the vaccinations."

"But regardless of the outcome, the final thing is that there will be no quarantine," he added.

Dr Al Maslamani said said Qatar has deals with vaccine manufacturers so that sufficient quantity of vaccines will reach Qatar in 2021 that will be enough for all the people.

Qatar Airways GCEO H E Akbar Al Baker also said in comment to the media few days back that vaccination certificates could be the new norm for traveling and that a lot of countries would require that to enter.