Travel to Dubai/Abu Dhabi with unvaccinated 12 yr old

[Mythreeknights]

Hi, can anyone tell me at what age is vaccination status relevant in the Emirates? My DH and I are both triple jabbed, but our 12 yr old who has had covid, has not had a vaccination yet. It looks like under 16 yr olds are exempt from vaccination status and testing on one site, but there's no clarity, with others saying anyone unvaccinated coming from a non green-list country (such as the UK) would have to quarantine for 10 days. Does anyone know whether the vaccination status kicks in at 12 or 16 for the Emirates? Thanks

Dubai and Abu Dhabi have had different rules throughout the pandemic with the latter being much stricter. This may explain conflicting info. As far as I'm aware you don't need to be vaccinated to enter the UAE at DXB without quarantine, but 12 and above need same PCR tests as adults. (One 48h before arrival and another done on arrival from UK at DXB - short quarantine of less than a day until results of that come back). In terms of restrictions in country I think it's only a problem for unvaccinated over 18s at the expo in Dubai (and even then they can take a PCR to get in) and for over 16s for entry to malls etc in Abu Dhabi.

Thanks - I was expecting to do the pre-departure PCR for the 12 yr old as well as ourselves, although I hadn't realised we have to do another PCR on arrival in Dubai with a short quarantine. We would land at midnight, so had intended to head straight to abu dhabi (we have family there), rather than spending ££ for half a night in an overpriced hotel in Dubai. One website says "children under 16 are exempt from the vaccination and testing requirements" but the FCO says anyone unvaccinated coming from a green list country needs a 10 day quarantine. We don't care about malls, but do want to go to Yas :-) I've contacted the DoH in AbuDhabi to ask, so I'll update this thread with their answer once I hear back, in case anyone else is in the same boat.

The rules currently for Dubai and Abu Dhabi are different:-

Residents, tourists and visitors travelling from or through the UK and arriving in the UAE must have a negative COVID-19 PCR test before departure and present the certificate at check in. The PCR test needs to be taken no more than 48 hours prior to departure.

Travellers arriving in Abu Dhabi will also be required to undertake a COVID-19 PCR test on arrival.

Travellers arriving in Dubai may be required to undertake a further COVID-19 PCR test on arrival.

Children under the age of 12 do not need a PCR test.

The PCR test has to be an in clinic test; do bring your passport along to the test centre in the UK when you have the PCR test done.

As far as I'm aware also you don't need to be vaccinated to enter the UAE at DXB without quarantine.

If you are at all planning on visiting the Expo that is on until the end of March 2022, you will need to show the staff your documented NHS vaccination record letter.

Children below age of 12 don’t need to do a PCR but a 12 year old is not below 12 so would be require to do a PCR 48 hours prior to arrival in dubai.

We did not need to do a further PCR test on arrival into Dubai; our reports from the clinic showing our negative test result was sufficient. You show these letters to the airport employee (who has been given this thankless task) before you board the transit train at Dubai. The Emirati immigration officers do not ask for these.

Sorry I read the answers and then answered about the PCR not vaccine.

I travelled last year and children under 16 were afforded green pass status but the rules have changed a couple of times so not 100% certain that is still the case.

Have you got flights already booked? Might be simpler to fly straight into AD rather than a different Emirate.

Update: The Abu Dhabi Department of Health answered my direct tweet to them this morning - anyone unvaccinated, irrespective of age, arriving in either Dubai or Abu Dhabi MUST go into a 10-day quarantine on arrival. So, that's that then!