Singapore and Malaysia have jointly announced that they will be allowing seamless air travel between the two nations without the need for vaccinated travellers to quarantine. From 29 November, a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) will open up between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Only fully vaccinated travellers can take advantage of the VTL, meaning that the respective waiting periods for two-dose and one-dose vaccines will apply. While they won’t have to go through quarantine, travellers using the VTL will still have to take a COVID-19 test before departure.
The details are still being ironed out between the two countries’ top leaders, so there are no details yet on whether the VTL will require an RT-PCR test or just a rapid antigen test. As for quarantine-free land travel across the Causeway between Singapore and Johor, that has yet to materialise and is apparently still in discussion.
Currently, both countries restrict most categories of non-citizens from coming in, as well as requiring quarantines between seven to ten days for international arrivals. According to Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP) applications for Short-Term Visitors and Long-Term Pass Holders will open on 22 November. Aside from Malaysians, Singapore is also commencing a VTL for travellers from Finland and Sweden.
Regarding vaccination verification, the Malaysian government previously announced that Singapore and Malaysia would reopen borders in tandem with mutually recognising each other’s vaccination certificates. The VTL announcement made no mention of vaccine certificates, so we will have to wait and see what the requirements are for this.
(Source: Ismail Sabri Yaakob/Facebook, Hishammuddin Hussein/Facebook)
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