UAE lifts Vietnam traveler ban after three-month suspension

The decision to lift travel bans came as Dubai prepares to host Expo 2020 World Festival starting Oct. 1 following a one-year hiatus amid the Covid crisis, the kingdom's National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) said.

Arriving passengers need to apply via the website of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) for necessary approval.

Passengers must furnish a certificate showing they are fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved Covid vaccine and take a mandatory rapid PCR test at the airport.

WHO has approved the U.K.'s AstraZeneca, America’s Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson&Johnson, along with China's Sinopharm and Sinovac.

All arrivals have to take a rapid PCR test before boarding. PCR tests on the fourth and eighth day are required.

Since June, Vietnam and 12 other countries were put in the UAE's travel red list due to rising concerns over the Delta variant.

A week ago, the UAE announced the resumption of tourist visas for fully vaccinated travelers. The move comes as the daily number of positive cases continues to drop in the country, having been lower than 1,000 since last week. The vaccination rate was closing on the 92 percent mark, the highest in the world after Malta, Reuters reported.

Vietnam is currently facing its most challenging Covid outbreak and several countries have banned or imposed stricter quarantine measures for travelers from the country.

In the current wave of Covid that began in late April, Vietnam has recorded over 620,000 cases.

Over 29.28 million people have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot, with 5.32 million people fully vaccinated.