COVID-19: Here are the SOPs for unvaccinated and fully vaccinated travellers entering Malaysia from 1st April

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has provided more details on the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the reopening of Malaysia’s international borders on 1st April 2022. As announced by the Prime Minister yesterday, fully vaccinated international travellers can enter the country without applying for MyTravelPass and they are not required to undergo mandatory quarantine.

All incoming travellers must install the MySejahtera app (Android, iOS, and Huawei) and fill up the pre-departure form in the Traveller section of the app. International travellers must take an RT-PCR test 48 hours before departure to Malaysia. Upon arrival, they must also conduct an RT-Antigen test within 24 hours. If a traveller is tested positive, they are required to isolate themselves as per current COVID-19 protocols.

For unvaccinated travellers or travellers who have not yet completed their COVID-19 vaccination, they are required to undergo a mandatory 5-day quarantine when they enter Malaysia. After completion of quarantine, they must continue to adhere to the SOPs set by the Malaysian government. For example, individuals without the fully vaccinated status on MySejathera will not be permitted to dine-in. They can get the fully vaccinated status if they have completed their COVID-19 vaccination.

For travellers who can’t get vaccinated due to health reasons, they can apply for an exemption via MySejahtera. They must upload proof of vaccine exemption such as an official letter from a doctor, and the Ministry of Health will verify the submission. Once the verification is completed, they will get the “Exempted” status on MySejahtera.

For children under 18 years old, they are not required to undergo mandatory quarantine regardless of their vaccination status. However, they are still required to take an RT-Antigen test within 24 hours upon arrival.

Khairy also shared that the protocols for land border crossing will be announced next week. He said the announcement will take more time as it involves periodic commuters such as individuals who travel back and forth regularly between Johor and Singapore, northern states and Thailand, and East Malaysia and Brunei. He said it isn’t practical to require regular travellers to conduct RT-PCR tests for each trip and the government aims to have an agreement with neighbouring countries on a protocol that ensures public safety and to ease travel arrangements for regular commuters.

For easy reference, the Ministry of Health will publish the latest SOPs and protocols on MOH’s portal at covidprotocol.moh.gov.my. At the time of writing, the site isn’t updated with the upcoming travel SOPs for Malaysia’s transition to the endemic phase which will take into effect from 1st April.

Khairy has also added that for any individual who is undergoing mandatory quarantine upon arrival in Malaysia, the quarantine period will end on 1st April. For example, if a fully vaccinated traveller arrives on 29th March, they will no longer need to complete the full 7-day quarantine as they are released on 1st April.