The Nachos Friday Night Club members at the Boracay Island ( File photo )

 

Boracay lifts COVID test requirement for fully vaxxed tourists

By Edward Era Barbacens

The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) has welcomed the decision of the local government of Aklan to waive the required COVID-19 test for fully-vaccinated tourists to enter Boracay Island starting Nov. 16.

This was announced by Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores on Friday, Nov. 12, adding that leisure travelers just need to present proof of vaccination to visit the world-famous island.

Nachos Friday Night Club members at the Boracay
island during sunset

According to Miraflores, instead of a negative RT-PCR test, guests will need to submit a vaccination certificate from VaxCertPH website or their local government-issued vaccination card with a verifiable QR code.

However, for those who have yet to complete their COVID-19 jabs and those who are still unvaccinated, a negative RT-PCR test result will be still required.

The Aklan local government unit (LGU) bared in October its plan to scrap the COVID test requirement for fully-vaccinated tourists as it expects to inoculate the entire population of tourism workers and adult residents on the island this month.

Miraflores said 94 percent of tourism workers and 70 percent of the eligible population in Boracay are now fully-vaccinated against COVID-19. He also vowed to continue their inoculation program to achieve the 100 percent vaccination rate in time with the holiday season.

In a data shared by the DOT, it noted that Boracay experienced a dramatic increase in tourist arrivals in the last two months, with a total of 32,452 visitors in October. With the easing of travel restrictions on the island, the DOT is optimistic that more tourists will visit the island ahead of the Christmas season.

“We hope to see even more visitors for the months of November and December, given this positive development, and ensure everyone’s safety altogether now that Boracay’s fully vaxxed tourism workers are at 94 percent, while it’s entire eligible population is at 70 percent vaccinated,” the DOT said.

The DOT, with the National Task Force against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. and Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon, rolled out the inoculation program for tourism workers in Boracay last July.

The Nachos Friday Night Club at the Boracay island ( File Photo )