Asia-Pacific
Travelers inoculated with any FDA, WHO-approved vaccines won’t have to quarantine on Guam
Stars and Stripes
June 16, 2021
Since the pandemic began, Guam has confirmed 8,261 coronavirus cases, 56 of which were active as of Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Pixabay)
Guam’s governor signed an executive order Wednesday that extends a quarantine exemption to travelers who are fully vaccinated with shots approved by the World Health Organization.
An exemption is already in place for new arrivals who have received Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccines – Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson/Janssen.
The update, which takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, adds the WHO-approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to the list.
Fully vaccinated new arrivals must also monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms, according to the order from Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero. COVID-19 is the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
Unvaccinated travelers who present a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their arrival on the island can quarantine and monitor their symptoms at home, the order states.
Since the pandemic began, Guam has confirmed 8,261 coronavirus cases, 56 of which were active as of Wednesday, and 139 deaths, according to the island’s Joint Information Center. Ten new patients were identified on Tuesday.
Guerrero’s order comes about a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered Guam’s coronavirus travel-risk level from “very high” to “moderate,” meaning fully vaccinated people are now OK to fly to the U.S. island territory.
However, unvaccinated travelers who are apt to become severely ill from the coronavirus respiratory disease are encouraged to avoid all unnecessary travel there.
The CDC’s “moderate” designation, also called level two, means Guam has tallied between 50 and 99 new COVID-19 cases over the past 28 days. The island had been at level four, which urges people to avoid all travel because of a high number of new infections, between May 17 and June 7.
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