Travelers from six third countries will no longer be able to enter Finland unless they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 starting next week.
The decision was made and announced by the Finnish government on August 5 and will take effect on Monday, August 9. Affected countries:
- Azerbaijan
- Japan
- Moldova
- Serbia
- Singapore
- South Korea
Unvaccinated travelers from these countries will only be allowed to enter Finland if they return to the country as legal residents or transit to reach their destination country in the EU / Schengen area.
At the same time, Finland will lift the ban on entry to Ukraine on August 8. Unvaccinated residents of this country will have the right to enter for minor travel purposes.
“Otherwise, the restrictions on entry to the external borders, adopted by the government on July 15 and entered into force on July 19, will remain unchanged. These restrictions will be in effect until August 22, ”the Finnish Interior Ministry said in a statement.
With regard to travel from third countries, the Ministry explains that travelers who can prove that they have been vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved by the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) can enter for any purpose.
They must receive the last dose of the vaccine at least 14 days before arriving in Finland.
However, the ministry points to the fact that unimpeded entry for people who have recovered from COVID-19 is intended only for citizens and residents of the EU and the Schengen Agreement.
Finland officially opened its borders to vaccinated travelers from around the world on July 26 after postponing its plans to open on July 12 due to the Delta coronavirus variant.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control shows that the country managed to introduce the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 80.9% of the population, while 43.8% were fully vaccinated.