The Philippines will ban the entry of unvaccinated travelers — both Filipinos and foreigners — starting February 16, 2022.
Conversely, Filipinos who stayed from red list countries or with high-risk for new and emerging strains of coronavirus will be allowed to fly direct on board commercial flights to the Philippines.
In a resolution, the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said all travelers arriving in the Philippines are required to show proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 starting February 16.
This is the first time the Philippine government has discriminated unvaccinated international passengers from coming to the Philippines.
A fully vaccinated individual must have received his/her second primary jab at least two weeks prior to the flight, or in the case of Jannsen vaccine, his / her single-dose jab.
The COVID-19 vaccines that the Philippine government recognized are those given Emergency Use Authorization or Compassionate Special Permit by the Food and Drug Administration, i.e. Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sinovac (Coronavac), Sputnik V, Janssen, Covaxin, Moderna, Sinopharm, and Covovax. WHO-approved vaccines Nuvaxovid, Covishield, Covavax, and Vero Cell will also be accepted.
These are the only unvaccinated passengers given exemptions:
1. Children below 18 years of age
2. People medically unable to receive COVID-19 vaccine, as certified by a competent public health authority in the port of origin, and
3. Diplomats and their qualified dependents with 9e visas
The Civil Aeronautics Board has been directed to mandate the airlines to require foreigners traveling to the Philippines to present proof of full vaccination prior to boarding flights to any points in the Philippines.
Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued by the authorities of Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Oman, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States will be recognized by the Philippines. Otherwise, travelers need to get a WHO-issued International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICV).