Vaccine travel rules could be relaxed to allow entry with COVID test

Malta’s stringent COVID travel rules could soon be relaxed to no longer make vaccination mandatory for entry, Chris Fearne has said.

The Health Minister and deputy prime minister said authorities are looking into the possibility of also allowing travellers into the country upon presentation of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result.

Malta currently requires all travellers from countries on its red list to present a valid vaccination certificate to be allowed into the country without having to quarantine.

Fearne said the intention is to introduce a negative test result rule where possible, to make it easier for tourists to visit during the peak summer months.

Chris Fearne speaks of talks to update travel rules.

He said the government was in talks with “partners at the EU” about the issue and claimed that Malta is working “in harmony with other EU member states when it comes to travel where possible”.

“Travelling involves crossing from one country to the other so it is useless for us to have rules that are not similar to those of other countries,” he said.

Despite Fearne's statement about EU-wide travel rules, Malta's entry rules are more stringent than those of other EU member states.