Authorities in Dubai have eased travel restrictions for its residents from certain countries, including India, if they have received two doses of a UAE-approved COVID-19 vaccine, according to a media report. The Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai, headed by Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced updates to Dubai's travel protocols for inbound passengers from South Africa, Nigeria and India, effective from June 23, the Gulf News reported.
There are six conditions for passengers who want to travel from India to Dubai. First, only passengers with a valid residence visa who have received two doses of a UAE-approved vaccine, are allowed to travel to Dubai. There are four vaccines approved by the UAE government — Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik V and Oxford-AstraZeneca. This means that passengers who have been vaccinated with Bharat Biotech's Covaxin will not be allowed to travel to Dubai. However, from South Africa and Nigeria, non-residence passengers are also allowed to travel subject to the vaccination and PCR test conditions.
Secondly, a negative test certificate from a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure is required, the report said. The UAE nationals are exempted from this requirement. Only QR-coded negative PCR test certificates are accepted, it said.
Furthermore, passengers from India are required to undergo a rapid PCR test four hours prior to departure to Dubai. They must also undergo another PCR test on arrival in Dubai. In addition, following arrival, passengers from India should undergo institutional quarantine until they receive their PCR test result, which is expected within 24 hours, the report added. UAE citizens and diplomats are exempted from institutional quarantine.
In late April, the UAE closed its borders for travellers from India due to a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country during the second wave of the pandemic. The Gulf nation had first announced a ban on April 25 and on May 4, announced that it has extended its ban on the entry for travellers from India. The UAE, however, had said that flights between the two countries will continue to allow the transport of passengers from the UAE to India and the transfer of exempted groups from India to the UAE.