Australia opens its doors to international tourists from February 21

 Australia opens its doors to international tourists from February 21

Australia will officially open its borders to all international visitors, all types of visas, from February 21, provided that these people have received at least 2 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Passengers at Sydney International Airport - Photo: Reuters

In an announcement on February 7, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the country's National Security Committee had just met and agreed on the deadline to open the national border. He made it clear that since November 2021, the Australian border has gradually opened safely to all subjects from local citizens, international students, some types of long-term work visas, to public employees. populations of some countries with low rates of COVID-19 infection such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea.

According to the VNA, the Australian cabinet has specifically reviewed the national situation and the ability to handle the current epidemic, based on the advice of the National Health Advisory Board, to agree on the time to fully open the border. , welcome all international visitors, including short-term tourists to Australia.

However, quarantine requirements, including mandatory isolation regulations, will be decided by the state governments to suit the local realities.

People who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will still need to apply for a medical exemption if they wish to enter Australia and will have to provide proof that they are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Also in the announcement on the same day, Australia's Health Minister Greg Hunt said that the country had passed the vaccination milestone of 51 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on February 6 and is expected to soon pass the milestone of 9 million doses of the increased vaccine. boost is injected to the people.

According to Prime Minister Morrison, the Australian Government will not change the definition of "fully vaccinated" from 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 3 doses, in the context that Australia's international border will soon open to visitors. fully vaccinated internationally. He said it was a reasonable and very important move so that Australia could return to the "new normal" as soon as possible.