Philippines offers free COVID-19 booster shots for Japanese tourists

The government has allowed Japanese tourists to get COVID-19 booster shots in the Philippines for free, the Department of Tourism announced on Thursday.

In a radio interview, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said this initiative has been done in coordination with National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr. and NTF deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon.

“We also opened pala to our Japanese tourists. Kasi ngayon pa lang sila nagbo-booster [they have just started their booster] program here in Japan. Together with Sec. Galvez and Sec. Vince Dizon, ang ating mga [our] Japanese tourists, they can come [to the Philippines] and get their booster shots for free,” Puyat said.

“They’re very happy about that because zero lang ang quarantine nila if they get their booster shots. So they’re quite happy with our announcement,” she added.

Puyat said she is currently in Japan, which is one of the top source markets of the Philippines before the pandemic, to encourage its nationals that it is safe to come and travel to the Philippines.

She said she has been meeting with her counterpart and various Japan tourism organizations.

“Talagang importante sa kanila na vaccinated tayo, ‘yung ating mga tourism stakeholders. Nakuwento ko nga na 97% vaccinated na ang ating mga tourism stakeholders and 25% na booster,” she added.

(It is really important to them that we and our tourism stakeholders are vaccinated against COVID-19. I told them that 97% of our tourism stakeholders have been vaccinated and 25% of them got their booster shots.)

“Very important sa kanila ‘yung they found out the vaccination rate in the country at continuously bumababa ‘yung ating mga kaso. So they know and important din sa kanila na nung September 2020 pa lamang, we received the World Travel and Tourism Council Safe Travels stamp,” Puyat added.

(It is also very important to them that they find out the vaccination rate in the country and the COVID-19 cases here in the Philippines is continuously decreasing. They also found out that in September 2020, we received the World Travel and Tourism Council Safe Travels stamp.)

The said stamp is granted to governments and companies worldwide that have adopted the health and hygiene global standardized protocols, which follow the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.

It also aims to restore confidence in travelers and help the beaten down travel sector recover.

Currently, the Philippines is accepting business and leisure travelers from 157 visa-free countries starting February 10, 2022.

Only fully vaccinated foreign tourists from visa-free countries are allowed entry. They are required to present a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test result taken 48 hours prior to their trip.

On April 1, the Philippines will reopen its borders to all foreign tourists, including from visa countries, Puyat added. —KBK, GMA News