Malaysia recently announced that residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to travel domestically and internationally beginning October 11.
During a televised press conference on Sunday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that 90 percent of Malaysian adults have already been vaccinated, a target he announced last week would result in the reopening of interstate travel.
“According to the Ministry of Health, the vaccination rate for the adult population under the COVID-19 National Immunization Plan (PICK) has reached 90 percent,” Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced. “Accordingly, the government has agreed to allow (those) who have been fully vaccinated to travel interstate without having to apply for police permission from tomorrow, Monday, October 11.”
Ismail Sabri also stated that fully vaccinated Malaysian citizens will no longer be required to apply for the MyTravelPass programme, which was implemented to prevent unnecessary overseas travel. Malaysians who travel outside the country will still be subjected to quarantine upon their return.
According to reports, the government is planning to reopen international tourism in December. “Yes, December is possible,” Ismail Sabri stated during an interview with local media in Kuala Lumpur last week, though he also emphasised, “it’s still too early at the moment. We will open the state borders first before allowing international travel.”
Malaysia avoided an initial wave of COVID-19 by closing its borders and imposing restrictions last year, but was hit hard this year by the introductions of the highly transmissible Delta variant, and imposed a nationwide lockdown in January. During its peak in August, the country recorded over 20,000 new cases per day.
However, following one of the region’s most rapid vaccine rollouts, case counts are declining, and authorities have begun to relax local restrictions, according to The Korea Times.
During his speech on Sunday, the Prime Minister said, “We have to train ourselves to live with COVID, because COVID may not be eliminated fully.”
– India’s new age travel digital media
