KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Fully vaccinated travellers are allowed to cross the land border between Malaysia and Singapore from April 1 without the need to undertake a Covid-19 test both before departure and upon arrival.
Announcing this on Thursday (March 24), Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said they are also not required to undergo any quarantine.
These are specific protocols for all travellers who cross the land border between the two countries, Khairy told a press conference in Parliament on Thursday (March 24).
For those travelling by air between Malaysia and Singapore, they no longer need to undergo quarantine and Covid-19 testing upon arrival.
“For all travellers who have completed Covid-19 vaccinations that are passing through the Malaysia-Singapore air border, they just need to do Covid-19 testing two days prior to departure. They do not need to go through quarantine and perform Covid-19 testing upon arrival,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had spoken on the phone with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong regarding the reopening of the land border between the two countries.
The two prime ministers agreed to allow all travellers who have been completely vaccinated to cross the land border without the need to perform Covid-19 testing or undergo quarantine.
Two entry points for travel by land to Thailand
Khairy also announced that starting April 1, travel by land between Malaysia and Thailand will be allowed, but there will be only two entry points at the initial stage, namely the Bukit Kayu Hitam-Sadao and Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan entry points.
“The Thai government is only willing to accept travelling tourists. While for daily and frequent travellers, discussions are still ongoing between Malaysia and Thailand.
“For now, the general protocol for general travellers applies to those travelling from Thailand," he said.
Repeal of procedures for travellers from April 1
Khairy also announced that eight procedures have been repealed for travellers from April 1 in conjunction with the reopening of the country’s borders.
They include the list of 18 high-risk countries, the use of digital tracker, Home Quarantine Application (HQA), travellers through the One-Stop Centre (OSC) programme, Langkawi International Tourism Bubble (LITB), Covid-19 RT-PCR detection test counter by the Ministry of Health at KLIA, and MyTravelPass.
Vaccines recognised by Malaysia
On another matter, Khairy said the Ministry of Health recognises travellers who have completed their full Covid-19 vaccination regimen approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) under its Emergency Use Listing.
In addition, he said Malaysia will also allow vaccines which have been approved for usage by regulatory authorities in other countries even though they are not included in the WHO Emergency Use Listing.
The list of types and brands of these vaccines will be updated from time to time, he said.
“For example, Zifivax (China, Indonesia, Pakistan), Minhai (China, Indonesia), CoviVac (Cambodia, Russia), Medigen (Taiwan), ZyCoV-D (India), Turkovac (Turkey) and Covifenz (Canada),” he said.