Update: Ireland's Department of Health has provided further information on the mandatory hotel quarantine exemptions for fully vaccinated people and people traveling with newborns.
As per the Department of Health, "If you are fully vaccinated and have the documents to prove that, then you do not have to complete mandatory hotel quarantine when you come to Ireland.
"However, if even you are fully vaccinated, you still have to have a negative pre-departure PCR test and complete a period of self-quarantine at home or wherever you specified in your passenger locator form."
What 'fully vaccinated' means as per the Department of Health:
- Pfizer-BioNtech - 7 days after your second dose
- Moderna - 14 days after your second dose
- Oxford-AstraZeneca - 15 days after your second dose
- Johnson & Johnson / Janssen - 14 days after your single dose
In addition to fully vaccinated travelers, people traveling with newborns can be exempt from the mandatory hotel quarantine scheme.
"All families travelling with newborn babies (no more than 28 days old), including those who have travelled to a designated state for the purpose of surrogacy, do not have to complete mandatory hotel quarantine when you come to Ireland.
"However, all travellers still have to have a negative pre-departure PCR test and complete a period of self-quarantine at home or wherever you specified in your passenger locator form."
You can learn more about mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in the Republic of Ireland from designated countries here.
The following was originally published on April 15, 2021:
Ireland's Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly today announced that following government discussions, fully vaccinated people arriving into the Republic of Ireland from abroad will not be subject to mandatory hotel quarantine.
He said today: "The Government decision last week was for a rapid review to be conducted.
"I have now received advice from the Acting Chief Medical Officer, which I have accepted.
"Legal regulations will now be required to exempt fully vaccinated people from Mandatory Hotel Quarantine and allow them complete home quarantine. These regulations will be drafted and signed in the coming days."
Minister Donnelly did not provide a definitive date as to when this would come into effect. For now, anyone arriving into the Republic of Ireland from a "high risk" country is subject to mandatory hotel quarantine with very limited exemptions.
On April 9, the Irish government published its latest iteration of "high risk" countries, which from today, April 15, includes the US and Canada. Arrivals into the Republic of Ireland from any country on the "high risk" list are subject to mandatory hotel quarantine with very limited exemptions. The latest publication made no mention of exemptions of vaccinated people.
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Minister Donnelly also announced on Thursday that the online booking portal for mandatory hotel quarantine reservations will reopen from late this evening, allowing people due to arrive in the Republic of Ireland from "high risk" states from Saturday to pre-book their accommodations.
The mandatory hotel quarantine booking online portal was temporarily suspended on April 13 "as a precautionary measure to enable further assessment of capacity within the mandatory hotel quarantine system for the coming days."
Minister Donnelly said on Thursday: "I welcome the intensive efforts made by both officials in my department and the Tifco Hotel Group to bring about this increased capacity. Mandatory Hotel Quarantine is a very important public health measure and ensures we continue to have the strongest border biosecurity measures in Europe.
"I would like to extend my particular thanks to the Tifco Hotel Group and their staff for stepping up capacity so quickly and for their commitment to ensuring the comfort and security of those required to enter Mandatory Hotel Quarantine. The management of this system is a complex undertaking, involving logistics across a range of operational areas and government sectors. I would like to thank all state actors involved in the operational delivery of this policy.
"Our system of Mandatory Hotel Quarantine is working as intended to protect the country from the importation of COVID-19, particularly variants of concern. To date, 18 people in Mandatory Hotel Quarantine have tested positive for COVID-19, of which four involve probable variants of concern. I am very grateful to those that have entered mandatory quarantine and for playing their part to stop the spread of this disease."
The following capacity increases have been announced:
- Tifco have confirmed the addition of 305 rooms, two days ahead of schedule, and will be ready to start taking bookings for those arriving Saturday 17 April onwards
- this will bring the capacity on Saturday 17 April to 959 rooms
- by Friday 23 April, capacity will increase to 1189 rooms
- by Monday 26 April, capacity will increase to 1607 rooms
You can read the Irish government's regulations on traveling to Ireland here, and learn more about mandatory hotel quarantine here.
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