The alluring tropical destination of Fiji is finally preparing to welcome back tourists, after a year-and-a-half of being closed to most foreign travelers.
In a September 16 announcement, Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama said that Fijian authorities have developed a reopening strategy that will allow travelers from certain "green list" countries to enter without quarantine.
The phased reopening plan-which is set to initiate once at least 80 percent of Fiji's adult population is fully vaccinated-relies upon a careful framework devised by Fiji's COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Taskforce, consisting of the country's top medical and policy experts.
Bainimarama reiterated his previous statement, saying that he believes his South Pacific archipelago is on track to reach its vaccination target of 80 percent as early as November-"faster than we ever dared to hope," according to the prime minister. To date, 62 percent of the island nation's adult residents are fully vaccinated, and over 97 percent have received their first dose of an approved vaccine protocol.
"For the sake of the tens of thousands of Fijians-and their families-who depend on our tourism industry, we are also preparing to re-open Fiji as one of the world's safest tourism destinations," Bainimarama said. "That re-opening depends on more than our vaccination rates-it depends on the vaccination rates of other countries, as well as a great deal of work behind the scenes. For Fiji's part, we are ticking every box of readiness."
Countries on the green list will consist of those that use the same vaccines as Fiji does (Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca) and have, "similarly high rates of vaccination to ours and low test-positivity rates," Bainimarama explained. According to a USA Today report, that list looks to include Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Korea, Singapore and "parts of the USA"-though precisely which parts those might be wasn't clear.
Once the scheme is put into action, travelers from green list countries will need to be fully vaccinated, and be issued a pre-departure approval following an online application process. On top of which, they'll also be required to present a negative COVID-19 result from a test taken within 72 hours of boarding their flight to Fiji.
Upon arrival, visitors will be permitted to vacation in designated "travel safe" areas, where they can interact with locals and enjoy the islands' offerings knowing that everyone is fully vaccinated. After spending five days within a "travel safe" area and, assuming that the results of an in-country COVID-19 test come back negative, vaccinated foreign visitors will be allowed to travel freely about the entire archipelago.
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