Qatar drops quarantine for vaccinated visitors

Qatar is ready to welcome back international holidaymakers (photo courtesy Unsplash).

Qatar has reopened and dropped quarantine measures for fully vaccinated international arrivals. It has also introduced a new set of measures aimed at easing travel to the state.

Visitors will be required to take a PCR test within 72 hours of departure for Qatar and upload the test result, along with their vaccination certificate and personal details, to the Ehteraz website. Once this has been done, travellers can apply for authorisation to travel to Qatar at least 12 hours prior to departure. Travellers must also have a confirmed hotel booking.

Boarding can only take place for passengers who have a valid travel authorisation. In terms of visa requirements, more than 80 nationalities can visit Qatar with a free 'visa on arrival'.

All travellers must also download the Ehteraz mobile tracing app which requires a domestic Qatari SIM card. SIM cards can be bought from Ooredoo or Vodafone on arrival at Hamad International Airport. Once the app is activated, visitors can enter shopping malls, restaurants and museums and use taxis and public transport.

Approved vaccines in Qatar include Comirnaty by Pfizer BioNTech, Spikevax by Moderna, Vaxzevria and Covishield by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Janssen/Johnson&Johnson. Travellers vaccinated with Sinopharm will need to prebook a quarantine hotel if travelling from a red or yellow list country and will be subject to an antibody test on arrival.

Face masks are mandatory at all times in Qatar, both indoors and outdoors.

More information can be found online.

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