Malaysia Lifts Restrictions for Vaccinated Travelers, International Reopening To Follow

Malaysia today announced that it is lifting its domestic and international travel restrictions for residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, starting tomorrow, October 11.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said during a televised press conference on Sunday that 90 percent of Malaysian adults have now been vaccinated, a target which he announced last week would trigger 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,” he announced, according to a CNA report. “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 said that fully vaccinated Malaysian citizens will now be permitted to travel abroad without the need to apply for the MyTravelPass program, which was put in place to prevent nonessential overseas travel. Still, Malaysians who travel outside the country will be required to undergo quarantine upon returning home.

The prime minister had previously stated that his Southeast Asian nation would also consider reopening its borders to foreign travelers after 90 percent of its eligible population had been inoculated, according to The Business Times.

The government is reportedly leaning toward a December international tourism reopening. “Yes, December is possible,” he said during an interview last week with local media in Kuala Lumpur, though he also emphasized, “it’s still too early at the moment. We will open the state borders first before allowing international travel.”

By shutting its borders and imposing restrictions last year, Malaysia largely avoided an initial wave of COVID-19, but this year was hit hard by the introductions of the highly transmissible Delta variant, and imposed a nationwide lockdown back in January. At its peak in August, the country was recording over 20,000 new cases each day.

But, following one of the region’s most rapid vaccine rollouts, case counts are falling and authorities have begun lifting local restrictions, The Korea Times reported. “We have to train ourselves to live with COVID, because COVID may not be eliminated fully,” the prime minister said during Sunday’s address.

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