New COVID-19 protocols for fully vaccinated travelers to Dominica

Individuals who are fully vaccinated will no longer be required to be tested on arrival at the airport.

Health Minister, Dr. Irving McInytre, who made the disclosure while speaking as a guest on Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit’s Annou Pale Sunday talk show this week.

He said this forms part of the new COVID-19 protocols which will come into effect on Wednesday 19th May, 2021.

“If you are fully vaccinated and you fit the criteria of someone who is fully vaccinated you will not be tested at the airport,” the minister said. “But you will have to go to your hotel which has to be a certified Safe in Nation (SiN) property, or a government quarantine facility.”

He said at these facilities, on day 2,  a PCR test will be done and the individual will receive the results within 24 hours.

“So what it means is a minimum of two days, so actually if you are done on the second day, you might actually go home on that same second day or the next morning,” he explained. “So the days of 5 and 6 and 7 days in quarantine are over for fully vaccinated travelers.”

The minister further explained that there are certain typical cases where if one is symptomatic then a rapid antigen test will be conducted.

“But if you are fully vaccinated you don’t go through this testing,” he stated.

Dr. McIntyre added that individuals who are fully vaccinated and are not tested at the airport, are still being encouraged to wear their mask and practice physical distancing.

However, he said for those who are not fully vaccinated, the protocols remain the same.

“You get to your certified Safe in Nature property or you get to the government quarantine facility and then on the fifth (5th) day we have you tested with a PCR; that means you might just go home on the sixth (6th) or seventh (7th ) day which makes a big difference compared to the 2 or 2 ½ days,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Dr. McIntyre explained the procedures that are in place with regard to the high risk alert.

“You may have vaccinated travelers and non-vaccinated travelers, but then you might also get a traveler who is a high risk alert; that means maybe the traveler had a fever or has been complaining of loss of taste or having headaches or he could have been working in a COVID hospital or related to a COVIS-19 patient. So all this gives us a little red alert and in that case, we would quickly do a rapid antigen test,” he stated.

Dr. McIntyre said if the antigen test is negative, the individual proceeds to his normal two-day quarantine.

“If the antigen test is positive, then we would have to isolate him.”

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39 Comments

  1. Man bites dogs
    May 20, 2021

    It is amazing how ignorant Lennox Linton, followers are, could you believe all that crap that lots is coming up with!!!

  2. Potential Lab Rat
    May 19, 2021

    Why are we acting like vaccinated individuals cannot contract and spread the disease? Do any sort of research and this is the basic headliner! Any one intending to set foot on the island should be tested and quarantined.

  3. zandoli
    May 19, 2021

    Folks, the government has laid down the criteria for entry into Dominica and it is up to you to decide whether you want to travel under those conditions. Canada still requires people to be quarantined, fully vaccinated or not.

    I was planning a trip to Jamaica in November, but after reading their protocol, I decided I did not need the hassle when I am travelling on vacation. So I will put that on pause until the world opens up fully. The same goes for Dominica.

    • May 20, 2021

      Zandoli, I am thinking the same way too.

      I want to be checked out from the airport services and to find my people waiting for me to take me home, not a taxi that will charge me to take me to a facility for Corvid-19 observations at my own cost.

      I have been free from Corvid-19 since day one, and now I am heading into my second vaccination dose–that is because I want to be with my people in Dominica at some time.

      As you said, I will put that on pause until the world opens up fully. I am not going home for as long as those protocols stand in my way.

  4. Toto
    May 19, 2021

    And now I’m reading on DNO we have 8 active Covid cases from last week. How is that possible if we have all these control measures in place. People coming through back door still, some people allowed to skip the protocol? What is it but something not right. All people in Dominica should be vaccinated, I don’t care what Blessing and them say. If you are not, stay away from my home you hear. Is your choice.

    • Sunshine
      July 30, 2021

      So so sad that dominca are yellding to the rest of the worlds lies why o why them test are not honest the whole world knows that u say say stay away if not jabbed well thats cool cos your country will suffer with no tourist and we are not having that evil crap injected in us so good luck

  5. ?
    May 19, 2021

    How do you know who is fully vaccinated

    • Man bite dogs
      May 20, 2021

      @? I have had my full vaccinations in spain, April and May I was given a two ID cards with my DNI Numbers when I returned to the UK and Dominica, I will show my vaccination card to emigration…. Job done!!!

    • Ebeh
      May 20, 2021

      Vacation cards!?

      • Man bite dogs
        May 20, 2021

        No! bloody idiot proof of vaccination to travel the world, My wife and I are not cowards like you lots crying like babies afraid of injections!!

        • Possie again
          May 21, 2021

          You should not be so quick to call one idiot for a thing that is still in experimental stage and within a year, when the same companies cannot come up with any prevention for cancer nor the ‘common’ cold in >100yrs. Don’t bet the family dog on this one.

  6. island peep
    May 19, 2021

    The medical professionals have done a great job in keeping Dominicans safe but the way they are going about it now is ridiculous. You should treat vaccinated people and unvaccinated people the same. The CDC said a vaccinated person pose the same health risk to others as an unvaccinated people. The vaccine does not prevent you from spreading the virus so what’s the point isolating people? With the vaccine you can still die, spread and get sick. I cannot tell you how to make your laws but what you are doing is forcing a vaccine on people that was approved on an emergency trial. I understand you want to keep your people safe but this is not the way. America can afford to do what Dominica is doing now and not even America is doing it. You test the person when they come in and if they are negative you send them about their business. You think this virus is going away because you put a $1000.00 in your friends pocket for guest house stay? Don’t turn this into a money making thing.

  7. Mark
    May 18, 2021

    All visitors should be tested upon arrival and taken to an approved facility. The results should be made available the following day and those fully vaccinated individuals should be permitted to leave if their test result is negative. Persons who have not yet received the vaccine should then follow the current protocol of 5, 6 or 7 days of mandatory quarantine.

  8. Roseau River
    May 18, 2021

    If confirmed to be fully vaccinated, do a test upon arrival, if negative, simply let the individual go about their business.

  9. Stephen John
    May 18, 2021

    Personally everyone coming in should be tested fully vaccinated or not…. The one defense we have in place is the testing on arrival

  10. Mark
    May 18, 2021

    All visitors should be tested upon arrival and taken to an approved facility. The results should be made available the following day. Fully vaccinated individuals should be allowed to leave the facility if their test result is negative. Persons who have not yet received the vaccine should then follow the current protocol of 5, 6 or 7 days in quarantine.

  11. Fake Doctor
    May 18, 2021

    Is either Skerrit and his puppet Minister of Health don’t believe in science or they are helping confuse the people. if fully vaccinated people need to quarantine for two days really three days minimum, then indirectly they are what idiots like Blessing them have been spreading and indirectly telling people vaccine is not good. So that being said they should STOP telling Dominicans to get vaccinated to work in tourism and so on. You cannot be preaching one message and sending signals that contradict what you are preaching. No wonder I hearing so much nonsense on those talkshows. If the government does not trust the vaccine then they should not push it on Dominicans. If on the other hand the science is correct then the government should not charge people for quarantine and should instead let Dominicans know they need to get vaccinated if they want to get protected and if they choose to remain ignorant and not get the vaccine then I should not have to pay for their protection

  12. Mark
    May 18, 2021

    All visitors should be tested upon arrival and taken to an approved facility. The results should be made available the following day. Fully vaccinated individuals should then be allowed to leave the facility if they have a negative test result. Persons who have not yet received the vaccine should then follow the current protocol of 5, 6 or 7 days in quarantine.

  13. Flat Earth
    May 18, 2021

    Fully poisoned but still have to be tortured up the nose….humanity has world governments and so called health experts have them like worms….no backbone..

  14. KatyP
    May 18, 2021

    Why distinguish between the AstraZeneca vaccines. An approved vaccine is a vaccine. Is this a deliberate move to ensure the British quarantine for longer? The same as those who have not been vaccinated?

    • KatyP
      May 18, 2021

      Dominica’s ‘Protocols in place for the return of cruise passengers’
      “All cruise staff and passengers will be required to be fully vaccinated 2 weeks prior to travel.”
      Question – does this mean that those who have received, as yet, ’unapproved’ vaccines such as the Oxford AZ vaccine will not be allowed off cruise ships?

      If you arrive in Dominica by other means you have to quarantine as though you have not been vaccinated. Something didn’t make sense here – where’s the consistency?

      • zandoli
        May 19, 2021

        Only the US has not approved the AZ vaccine. It has nothing to do with the efficacy of that vaccine. It is a very good vaccine. The US is playing silly political games. AZ has the same basic structure as the J&J vaccine.
        AZ is approved everywhere else.

  15. Lost Tribe
    May 18, 2021

    “If you are fully vaccinated and you fit the criteria of someone who is fully vaccinated ….

    What is this?

    • May 18, 2021

      @Lost Tribe, I asked the same question. I wonder why do these men of high criteria, not look into the thought of their mind before they spell them out

    • Stella Fifton
      May 19, 2021

      If fully vaccinated what would be the reason for quarantine apart from lining you’re pockets. Considering you have to wear a mask for the whole journey it’s unlikely you would get the COVID so although this change is great some of it is unnecessary.

    • Da Vibes
      May 19, 2021

      If you are fully vaccinated according to the way it’s written protection is only for you. Taking the vaccine will not prevent you from getting sick, spreading the virus or death from the virus.

  16. Skerro
    May 18, 2021

    That’s quarantine in dominica is just a money making thing god help backward Dominica

  17. S O S
    May 18, 2021

    S O S… This call is to Dangleben, Christian, Jno Finn, Robinson, the large mouth woman from concord, the fugitive from Morne Jaune and ALLLL the REST OF THE BIG TALK DIASPORAIANS who stay in their comfort zone IN THE US and else where and want to run Dominica by remote control.
    The border is open to you ALL. Come and help us. Enough of your talk. We need action. We don’t want commanders in chief by remote. Show your faces and join the action. We don’t want to be left and used like Mervin. We want ALL OF YOU at the forefront. We are fed up with ALL YOU BS. YOU ALL want us to fight a battle and war, in the end the honor is YOURS. If YOU say YOU love the country be there on May 27th. YOU lead and we will follow. Stop your hiding; cowards as YOU ALL are . Stop making excuses for your absence. Traitors! Come face the heat power hungry bastards. You all seem to have a plaster for every sore and the solution to every problem. Come, we are waiting. No more remote control but Boots

  18. Jenny Bug
    May 18, 2021

    Other words i will still be footing a bill for 3 or more days, because knowing how things are being done down in Dominica it will be considered a miracle if its done as reported, so in all 4 nights, i plan to return home, after vacationing outside of Dominica, and will be required to pay the tab to and from the airport to the hotel, plus a max of 4days plus food, i leave alone in my home upon returning why cant this be done differently? Did i forget to say that i am fully vaccinated?

    • Overseas
      May 19, 2021

      That’s the sad part about it… it is a money making thing but it also prevents people that wanted to come to Dominica to come… cause if one is fully vaccinated there should be no need for quarantine… point.blank.period. there is no other reason than forcing one to pay to stay at a hotel… I hear people say it but now I’m starting to believe…

      “Dominica is not a real place”

  19. Jenny Bug
    May 18, 2021

    Other words i will still be footing a bill for 3 or more days, because knowing how things are being done down in Dominica it will be considered a miracle if its done as reported, so in all 4 nights, i plan to return home, after vacationing outside of Dominica, and will be required to pay the tab to and from the airport to the hotel, plus a max of 4days plus food, i leave alone in my home upon returning why cant this be done differently?

  20. Let's Pretend
    May 18, 2021

    More foolishness, hypocrisy and false pretense. So people that are fully vaccinated will no longer be tested upon arrival but will be sent to government facility or a hotel for two days? Doing what? Why not the other way around where fully vaccinated people are tested upon arrival and if negative they are sent home? Is the government implying that they know there is covid-19 in the hotel and after two days they should be tested? Recent studies reveal that people that are fully vaccinated are very safe, meaning their chance of spreading covid-19 is very very slim and their chance of getting it is very slim. It was on that basis that the CDC and President Biden said that those who are fully vaccinated no longer required to wear masks and are now free to stop social distancing. To me for the government of Dominica to still require fully vaccinated people to quarantine for 2-3 days shows their stupidity. If fully that’s the case, then there’s no need for People to get vaccinated

    • Cobra
      May 18, 2021

      The reason which they will not tell you is that the vaccines are only trial vaccines and not real tested and proven vaccines. Lots of side effects and even death results from taking them. Because someone is fully vaccinated does not mean they cannot transfer the disease or are immune from catching it again.

    • May 18, 2021

      @Let’s Pretend, you are right on about this statement below:

      “So people that are fully vaccinated will no longer be tested upon arrival but will be sent to a government facility or a hotel for two days? Doing what? Why not the other way around where fully vaccinated people are tested upon arrival and if negative they are sent home?”

      That is perfect, my friend! Why should we go through an ordeal of waiting and testing, when we are perfectly healthy and are vaccinated to the necessary dose?

      The annoying thing is that that it will cost us, for that meaningless approach. The money that I would uselessly pay for that corvid-19 protocols, I would rather give it to my people at home, who need it.

      For the whole of 2020 and up to now, I have not been tested positive for corvid-19. I am on my way to my second vaccine in August. I want to be at home in December, God permits, but there is a 2day hindrance in my way at my cost –that is not fair.

    • KatyP
      May 19, 2021

      If you have been vaccinated but it is not on Dominica’s ‘approved’ list, you have to quarantine for 5 days – the same as a person who has not been vaccinated – how about that? Yet if you arrive on a cruise ship vaccinated, approved or not, you can enter. How do you explain that?

  21. TEST
    May 18, 2021

    The fact that we are still hearing of people who have been fully vaccinated contracting the virus, should be an indication that vaccinated or not, all visitors should be tested upon arrival. Someone who has been fully vaccinated, and have been traveling for a day or two, could have possibly been exposed and contracted the virus, and be asymptomatic. Without testing is then let loose upon the unsuspecting public to spread the virus unknowingly. I believe testing should continue for all entrants to the country, period.

    • Stella Fifton
      May 19, 2021

      You talk like all citizens are vaccinated. They are the risk. There is no proof that vaccinated people have got COVID. Get a test, yes that’s fine but quarantine regardless is unnecessary unless the test says positive which is unlikely.

  22. Roger Burnett
    May 18, 2021

    Where do the projected day trippers coming in by cruise ship fit into this?

    • Pipo
      May 18, 2021

      Good question Roger. Not only that, how do we know that all the vendors and bus drivers are vaccinated also. Sorry but I could not enjoy a tour like that, restricted where you can go, what you can see and whom you can meet. Sounds like a communist party tour of N. Korea.

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