Samoa has revised its Travel Advise issued Saturday over the weekend, as a final warning to all returning Samoan residents and essential workers.
“With the current emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variants with imminent spread to other countries including Samoa; Samoa’s borders are closed to all travelers except returning residents and essential workers only,” the Travel Advice stated.
It lists the mandates which include the compulsory protocols for all incoming travelers to obtain a negative COVID tests done 24 hours to be presented before boarding and on arrival and only certified and official hard copy documentation to support the negative results are accepted. You are also highly recommended to have your booster doses. Otherwise, be prepared to be left behind.
Also on arrival prior to getting the home release greenlight after satisfying the negative test results, there are stringent requirements in place as follows:
ON ARRIVAL INTO SAMOA:
a. All passengers are required to wear face mask at all times.
b. All passengers on arrival must submit to a Nasal pharyngeal Swab for PCR testing.
c. All passengers or guardian must sign a consent for self/home isolation
d. All passengers must self/home isolate for 7 days
e. All passengers must provide a valid local phone number and email/Facebook address.
f. All passengers are required to arrange and have a medical supervised Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) done at any health facility or private clinic on day 3 and day 7 of self/home isolation and report results to the Ministry of Health.
g. Self-Testing at home is NOT acceptable.
h. Any passenger with a POSITIVE test must self/home isolate for 10 days from the date tested positive with a repeat test done on day 10.
i. All close contacts of a positive case must also self/home isolate for 7 days with RAT test done on day 7.
j. All Positive RAT tests require a nasopharyngeal swab to be done for PCR and Genomic testing.
k. Failure to provide required information and adherence to self/home isolation requirement will result in a fine of $2,000.00 Samoan Tala or higher or to the extent of your name being publicize.
To that extend, all incoming travellers are strongly advised to read the 14th May 2022, Travel Advisory from the Ministry of Health (BELOW), otherwise be prepared to face the consequences.
All those who wish to travel to Samoa must contact the Chief Executive Officer of the Samoa Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade or The Chairman of the Disaster Advisory Committee or any of Samoa’s Overseas Mission Offices to register for a flight.
“With the current emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variants with imminent spread to other countries including Samoa; Samoa’s borders are closed to all travelers except returning residents and essential workers only.
“All travelers will be assessed on a case-by-case basis before being granted permission to travel to Samoa.
“Airline carriers are encouraged to conduct pre-departure screening of passengers for signs and symptoms including temperature check and general condition. “All Travelers age 12 years and above including flight crew are required to be fully vaccinated with the prescribed 2 doses preferably of vaccines pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen-single dose, Moderna, Sinopharm, Sinovac, Covaxin, Novavax) before entry into Samoa.”
Also, a legitimate vaccine certificate is required for boarding. Being fully vaccinated implies completion of the required prescribed doses as per the vaccine used.
“All should have completed 2 weeks (14 days) post vaccination prior to travel. The vaccine certificate must be a Health Authority Approved Certificate/Card of country where vaccination took place and should contain at least the following information:
• Name of Country
• Name of person – should be the same as name on passport or birth certificate
• National Identification/Registration Number if available
• Address of Clinic and contact details
• Name of Vaccine and Batch Number
• Dates of Vaccination
• Name of Vaccinator (optional)
• Health Institution Stamp if available
The traveller must provide a hard copy of the vaccine certificate at check in and on arrival into Samoa for sighting and also during registration.
“Electronic documents on phones or other electronic devices including email are NOT acceptable.
“Passengers with medical conditions that deem them exempt for Vaccination must email the aforementioned email addresses in advance with a written report from a registered medical officer stating reasons for exemption.
“The Ministry reserves the right to deny boarding if it is not satisfied with the medical report provided; a Negative Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) – (RT-PCR, NEAR, TMA, LAMP or SDA) by Nasal Pharyngeal Swab or Saliva test required to be taken within 48 hours of departure from originating airport for all passengers including children and infants as well as flight crew.
“The test result must have the testing laboratory or Clinic letterhead and stamp.
“Any results received by email or presented as InBox are NOT accepted. The lab result must be presented in hard copy on arrival in Samoa.”
Also, a supervised NEGATIVE Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) must be done within 24 hours before departure from Originating Airport.
“The RAT must be supervised by a registered medical professional with a signed written report to be presented at check in and on arrival into Samoa.
“All passengers exiting airports that they transit through must repeat a supervised RAT test before checking in again.
“Passengers transiting directly through without exiting any airport are not required to repeat a RAT test.”
Furthermore, a medical clearance must be signed, stamped, and completed by a general practitioner anytime within 120 hours of departure from originating airport is still required for all passengers and flight crew.
“The medical clearance must be presented in hard copy on arrival into Samoa; failure to provide a legitimate vaccination certificate and required documents will result in no boarding. “Passengers who have not been fully vaccinated or who fail to complete the 14 days after the second dose will be denied boarding.
“All travelers are encouraged to have a booster dose done before traveling to Samoa. “All passengers are responsible for their own transport and self/home isolation arrangements.”
Upon arrival in Samoa, all passengers are required to wear a face mask at all times.
“All passengers on arrival must submit to a Nasal pharyngeal Swab for PCR testing; passengers or guardian must sign a consent for self/home isolation; all passengers must self/home isolate for 7 days.”
According to the latest travel advisory, all passengers must provide a valid local phone number and email/Facebook address.
“All passengers are required to arrange and have a medical supervised Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) done at any health facility or private clinic on day 3 and day 7 of self/home isolation and report results to the Ministry of Health.
“Self-Testing at home is NOT acceptable. “Any passenger with a POSITIVE test must self/home isolate for 10 days from the date tested positive with a repeat test done on day 10.
“All close contacts of a positive case must also self/home isolate for 7 days with RAT test done on day 7. “All Positive RAT tests require a nasopharyngeal swab to be done for PCR and Genomic testing.
“Failure to provide required information and adherence to self/home isolation requirement will result in a fine of $2,000.00 Samoan Tala or higher or to the extent of your name being publicize.”
