DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced it will resume issuing visas to all tourists fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from Monday, a month before delayed Dubai Expo 2022.
This move comes in line with the UAE’s strategy aiming to creating a balance between public health and various vital sectors and will support national efforts being made to achieve sustainable recovery and revive the economic sector.
Those eligible would have to be fully inoculated with one of the Covid-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation, which include AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
“The decision applies to citizens of all countries, including those arriving from previously banned countries,” WAM said. “Passengers arriving on tourist visas must undergo a mandatory PCR test at the airport,” it added.
While life in the country has largely returned to normal amid the Covid pandemic, UAE continues to enforce strict rules on wearing masks and social distancing.
The UAE, a major international travel hub, had banned passengers from many South Asian and African countries for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dubai was last year counting on the six-month Dubai Expo 2020 — delayed a year by the health crisis and now set to open in October — to attract millions of visitors and boost the economy.
Heavily reliant on tourism, the emirate was one of the first destinations to open its doors to travellers, accepting tourists in July last year, just a few months after the pandemic took hold.
