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Singapore to reopen borders to vaccinated Indonesians
The government is still studying the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) quarantine-free travel scheme that Singapore has unilaterally applied to Indonesians wishing to enter the city-state.
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Passengers arrive at Changi Airport under Singapore’s expanded vaccinated travel lane (VTL) quarantine-free travel scheme, as the city-state opens its borders to more countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in Singapore on Oct. 20. (Reuters/Reuters)
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ingapore will allow vaccinated Indonesians to visit without quarantining later this month in a nonreciprocal move that sees the city-state eager to reopen its borders.
However, having enjoyed a relatively calm COVID-19 situation over the past month after experiencing the worst wave of infections between June and August, Indonesian officials say it was still studying the arrangement.
The country reported just 221 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, compared to Singapore’s 2,000-plus cases.
In a statement published on Monday, the Singaporean Embassy in Jakarta announced that the city-state was launching a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) with Indonesia from Nov. 29, though it will only apply to travelers leaving from Jakarta. Travelers from Singapore wanting to visit Indonesia will still need to follow existing travel regulations, which include a three-day mandatory quarantine period for inoculated travelers.
Meanwhile, travelers from Jakarta must be fully vaccinated with vaccines listed in the World Health Organization’s emergency use listing, which include Sinovac vaccines, the ones most commonly used in Indonesia. Around 78 percent of the country’s vaccines were supplied by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company.
The announcement was published ahead of a bilateral meeting between Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in Singapore on Tuesday, during which they discussed how the two countries would set up safe and travel arrangements, including through the VTL arrangement.
According to Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry, both sides were still in discussions on how to open the travel lane reciprocally, given that the recently announced VTL was granted by the city-state unilaterally.
