Brazil changed the requirements for traveling with children again

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil changed again on Friday, February 18, the requirements for children under 5 to 12 years old to enter the country, which generated controversy and fears last week. An informative note from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) distinguishes air and land transportation.

Now, for minors arriving in Brazil by air, the requirement of a vaccination certificate is from the age of 12 years and no longer from 5 years. For entry by land borders, the age of 5 years for the presentation of vaccination remains the same.

“As a travel agent, it is awful news, but we are not standing idly by, we talked to the Brazilian embassy in Uruguay, and they sent us a communication from Anvisa that would be allowing the entry of minors with one dose of the Covid vaccine,” said Carlos Pera, head of the Asociación Uruguaya de Agencias de Viajes (Audavi).

The news of Brazil’s new requirement for minors generated repercussions in Uruguay and Paraguay.

Uruguayan sources said the three Brazilian airlines operating between Uruguay and Brazil had different requirements for boarding: LATAM Airlines two vaccinations, GOL one vaccination, and Azul none.

“Nobody really knows what it’s like; it’s chaos,” said a travel agent. One passenger stated that at the Brazilian Consulate, he was told over the phone that “one dose of vaccine plus 14 days” was accepted for children to enter the country.

A communiqué in Spanish from Brazilian Tourism Promotion Agency (Embratur) says: “the presentation of the certificate with the complete immunization of the minor must occur at the time of check-in in case of air travel. It will also be requested to those tourists entering through land border crossings”.

This text contributes to the confusion since “full immunization” is understood as two doses plus 14 days.

The following are the requirements for travel to Brazil, both for adults and minors, according to Embratur’s press release:

• Identity card or valid passport, as the case may be.
• COVID-19 test: a negative result of virus detection test performed within 72 hours before entering Brazilian territory in a laboratory duly accredited and authorized by the authorities of the country of origin. The certificate must be in Portuguese, Spanish, or English.
• Certificate of vaccination against COVID-19 for travelers aged five years and older, except for exemptions in the Brazilian Ministry of Health regulations.
• Minors who cannot be vaccinated for medical or humanitarian reasons are exempt from presenting the vaccination certificate. A medical reason is to have had Covid in the last 90 days, which must be duly certified to exempt the vaccination.
• Children under 12 years of age, accompanied by their parents or legal guardians who certify a negative PCR-RT test, are exempt from presenting the antigen or PCR test. If the minor is traveling alone, they must provide a negative COVID-19 test.
• Present proof of international vaccination against yellow fever (the vaccine must be administered at least ten days before travel).
• Complete the health affidavit found in the following link: https://formulario.anvisa.gov.br

According to the regulations published by the Ministry of Health, the list of countries that have already started child vaccination and whose citizens must comply with the requirement to enter Brazil are Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, China, Cuba, El Salvador, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Ecuador, Indonesia, Israel, Paraguay, Peru, United Kingdom, Switzerland, European Union, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Those who do not accredit complete anti-Covid vaccination, whether adults or minors, must quarantine for 14 days. This period can be interrupted on the fifth day with a negative PCR test.

The president of Audavi said that the measure is inacceptable from the tourist point of view -although acceptable from a sanitary point of view- and rejected the decision without notice from “a serious country like Brazil” putting travelers with reservations acquired under other conditions and who do not comply with the new measures in a crossroads, which would hinder them from traveling.

During the Uruguayan Easter Week, family trips to Brazil are a classic. The demand was beginning to resurge, despite the restrictions still in force between both countries in the form of tests and the poor connectivity.

“Brazil, in particular, is at 25% or 30% in connectivity, it was the country with which there were more flights (until 2020), now the three airlines operate well below what they flew and only to São Paulo and Porto Alegre, there are no direct flights to Rio de Janeiro nor are they scheduled on the horizon for this entire year,” said Fernando Riva, vice president of the guild of agencies and director of Hiper Viajes.