Vaccinated travellers can now enter Egypt without a PCR test

Arrivals must present an authenticated vaccination certificate with a QR code

An employee at Cairo's international airport was arrested after a woman passenger complained that he took photos of her without her consent. Getty Images

Vaccinated travellers can now enter Egypt without the need to show a negative PCR test on arrival, the health ministry said on Thursday.

They must show a vaccination certificate authenticated by their home country’s health ministry, with a QR code which provides a digital copy of their vaccination status, the ministry said.

However, vaccinated travellers from countries where variants of Covid-19 have been detected must undergo an ID NOW rapid test for coronavirus on arrival, which provides a result within 15 minutes.

A positive result will require a further PCR test to confirm their Covid-19 status. Travellers whose PCR test comes back positive will be quarantined at one of the health ministry’s isolation hospitals until they are fully recovered, the ministry said.

The ministry will accept vaccinations recognised by the World Health Organisation or the Egyptian Drug Authority, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sinopharm, Sputnik V and Johnson & Johnson. The vaccinations must be fully administered at least 14 days before arrival.

The ministry said the rules for unvaccinated travellers remain the same, meaning they must show proof of a negative PCR test taken less than 72 hours before arrival.