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Exemptions from the requirement for Mandatory Hotel Quarantine

The Minister for Health has signed regulations introducing exemptions from the requirement for Mandatory Hotel Quarantine:

 

-          For passengers fully vaccinated with approved COVID-19 vaccines

-          For families travelling with new-born babies

The new exemptions apply from midnight on Friday night, 16th April. Further details are provided below.

 

Special arrangements for passengers fully vaccinated with approved COVID-19 vaccines

  • Following updated advice from the Government’s Expert Advisory Group on Travel, the Minister for Health has amended the law on mandatory hotel quarantine such that an additional exemption now applies where a person can prove they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
  • Arrivals seeking to avail of this exemption must have documentary evidence of having received a full course of one of the following vaccines and have completed the final dose of that vaccine a sufficient period prior to travel to Ireland to be regarded as fully vaccinated. Details as follows:

Full course of any one of the following vaccines:

Regarded as fully vaccinated after:

Pfizer-BioNtech Vaccine: BNT162b2 (Comirnaty®),

7 days

Moderna Vaccine: CX-024414 (Moderna®),

14 days

Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine: ChAdOx1-SARS-COV-2 (Vaxzevria®)

15 days

Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Vaccine: Ad26.COV2-S [recombinant] (Janssen®)

14 days

 

  • Only these vaccines, which are the equivalent of those recommended by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and approved by the European Commission, are acceptable in order to qualify for this exemption.
  • Certification of Vaccinationfor the purposes of this exemption means a record or evidence in written or electronic form in the Irish language or the English language, or, where in a language other than the Irish or English language, an official translation into the Irish or English language, that contains the following information: 
    • confirmation that the person to whom the certification applies is a vaccinated person;
    • the date or dates on which the person was vaccinated;
    • the body in the state concerned  implementing the vaccination programme (howsoever described) on behalf of that state that administered or caused to be administered the vaccination to the person concerned;
  • A person who is exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine or released from hotel quarantine early is still legally required to have a negative pre-departure RT-PCR test and to complete a period of self-quarantine at home/at the address given on the Passenger Locator Form.

Exemption for families travelling with new born babies:

  • An exemption is now in place for families with new-born babies who are no more than 28 days old, including those who have travelled to a designated state for the purpose of surrogacy.
  • Passengers in these circumstances will also be required to have a negative pre-departure RT-PCR test and to complete a period of self-quarantine at home/ at the address given on the Passenger Locator Form.

 

Full details of the current arrangements in respect of Mandatory Hotel Quarantine

 

 

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