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Avoid falling into any country’s travel ban list, says MP

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Ong Kian Ming says the government must work towards achieving ‘Green’ status which poses limited travel restrictions.

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Free Malaysia Today
Malaysians travelling to the EU countries are bound by the rules and policies of the individual governments. (AP pic)

PETALING JAYA:
Instead of focusing on vaccine recognition for travel abroad, Malaysia must work towards avoiding any country’s “travel ban list” based on the Covid-19 situation at home, says Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming.

He said the conditions with regards to Malaysians travelling to the European Union (EU) countries are still governed by the rules and policies of the individual governments.

Therefore, said Ong, Malaysia should be more concerned about increasing domestic vaccination rates as part of a larger strategy to curb Covid-19, and fall into a category which requires travellers to do the minimum.

Citing the UK as an example, which is the most visited country in Europe among Malaysians, he said Malaysia should work towards achieving the status of a “Green” country.

Free Malaysia Today
Ong Kian Ming.

“Travellers headed for the UK from countries in this category are only required to take a Covid-19 test before their flight and on Day 2 of their visit,” he said in a statement today.

He noted that Malaysia is currently in the UK’s “Amber” list, whereby travellers must take a Covid-19 test before their flight, aside from going on a mandatory 10-day quarantine at a hotel or at home.

Travellers from countries in this category must also pay for Covid-19 tests on Day 2 and Day 8 of their quarantine.

With this restriction in place, Ong said, Malaysia should be more concerned about increasing domestic vaccination rates as part of a larger strategy to curb Covid-19.

He was responding to a CodeBlue report which stated that Malaysians with AstraZeneca jabs manufactured in Japan and India may face difficulties travelling to countries in the European Union (EU) because their production facilities are not recognised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Calling for calm among potential travellers, Ong said EU countries have not announced their respective conditions for travellers from abroad based on the manufacturing facility of their AstraZeneca vaccines.

He also said the EMA is only a pharmaceutical regulatory agency concerned with vaccines produced for the EU market.

“The EMA does not decide the rules with regards to international travel to and from EU countries.

“Like any pharmaceutical regulator, the EMA would only be concerned about the manufacturing process at the facilities where the vaccines are being made,” he said.

Ong said that common factors of concern for travel in most of the EU countries remain to be the spread of Covid-19 in travellers’ country of origin, the number of cases and the types of variants present.

Vaccination coordination minister Khairy Jamaluddin previously said there is no reason for the EU countries to discriminate against any one AstraZeneca facility.

Khairy also said the government will put in a request for AstraZeneca to inform the EU that all its sites adhered to the same manufacturing practices and formulations.

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