Vaccination cards in lieu of testing OK’d for travel

MANILA, Philippines — The government has eased the local travel and quarantine protocols for individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and their vaccine cards used as exemption for testing.

The “finalized” protocols for fully vaccinated persons are contained in Resolution no. 124-B issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) last July 2.

Under the resolution, a person shall be considered as having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 two weeks after having received a single-dose vaccine or the second dose of a two-dose series.

The vaccine administered should be included in the emergency use authorization list, or compassionate special permit, issued by the Food and Drug Administration or the emergency use listing of the World Health Organization.

For interzonal travel allowed under government guidelines, a fully vaccinated person’s COVID-19 domestic vaccination card, signed by a legitimate vaccinating establishment, or a quarantine completion certificate showing the holder’s vaccination status are now considered sufficient alternatives to any testing requirement the local government of destination may require.

The protocol applies to testing requirements before travel or upon arrival, and to fully vaccinated senior citizens. Fully vaccinated travelers still have to undergo health and exposure screening upon arrival at their destination.

The intrazonal movement of fully vaccinated senior citizens within areas under general community quarantine, and the most relaxed modified general community quarantine, is still allowed. However, they may still be asked to present COVID-19 domestic vaccination cards or quarantine completion certificates showing their vaccination status.

If fully vaccinated persons are listed as close contacts of probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases, they may undergo a shortened seven-day quarantine period if they remain asymptomatic or did not have symptoms for the duration of the seven-day period. In case a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test needs to be performed, it may be done “not earlier than the fifth day after the date of last exposure.”

No testing and quarantine shall be required for close contacts who may have been traced beyond the seventh day from last exposure and who have remained asymptomatic. Prescribed testing and isolation protocols would be followed if the RT-PCR test yields a positive result, or if the individual exhibits COVID-19 symptoms.

About 2.7 million persons in the Philippines – more than two percent of the country’s population – have been fully vaccinated as of July 1.

New high cases

Meanwhile, Western Visayas surpassed Calabarzon and has topped the regions with high number of new COVID-19 cases, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

DOH data showed that as of July 3, Western Visayas recorded a total of 841 new cases compared to 681 in Calabarzon.

The National Capital Region (NCR), previously the epicenter of COVID-19, ranked third with 652 new cases.

But the NCR remained in the lead among regions with high active cases, followed by Calabarzon and Western Visayas.

Yesterday, the DOH logged an additional 5,966 new cases, bringing to 1,436,369 the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide. Of the number, 94.6 percent or 1,358,512 have recovered while 52,708 are active cases. The number of COVID-related fatalities rose to 25,149 with the addition of 86 more deaths.

The DOH reported over 14.1 million people tested with a 10.64 percent positivity rate. Among those who tested positive were 20,503 health care workers and 19,068 returning overseas Filipinos. – Mayen Jaymalin