Taipei, Aug. 14 (CNA) The first group of 148 travelers departed from Taoyuan International Airport Saturday morning as Taiwan's long-suspended travel bubble with Palau resumed.
A China Airlines flight took off at around 10:30 a.m., carrying the 148 tourists to visit Palau under a program in which the Pacific island country is offering up to 2,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to attract Taiwanese travelers.
The travel bubble, which allows Taiwanese tourists to visit Palau under eased protocols, was initially launched on April 1 but was suspended in mid-May after a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan.
While Taiwan has managed to contain the outbreak, it is still facing an ongoing shortage of vaccines.
The first group of tourists in the program arrived in the airport at around 4 a.m. Saturday, before being given COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests at 5 a.m.
By 8:30 a.m., their PCR tests had all come back negative, according to Taoyuan International Airport Corp. (TIAC) President Jerry Dan (但昭璧).
Dan said the airport had adopted streamlined procedures for administering the tests, which allowed them to finish ahead of schedule.
In accordance with disease prevention protocols, participants in the travel bubble will be isolated from other travelers upon their return to Taiwan, he said.
Dilmei L. Olkerii, Palau's ambassador to Taiwan, came to the airport Saturday to see the passengers off, while distributing US$50 travel vouchers for each of them to use in the country.
Olkerii expressed gratitude to Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for allowing the program to resume.
She said she will meet with representatives from EVA Airways and Tigerair Taiwan next week to discuss the arrangement of future flight schedules to Palau.
The ambassador cited Palau President Surangel Whipps, Jr. as saying that while Taiwan has continued to report domestic COVID-19 cases, the country has done well containing the virus.
Earlier this week, Alex Lei, director of the Palau Visitors Authority's (PVA) Taiwan office, said that Palau would provide 2,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwanese travelers, in view of the countries' "longstanding friendly ties."
Palau -- which currently has doses of the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines -- will offer the shots, along with proof of vaccination documents, to Taiwanese visitors on the day of their arrival, Lei said.
People who have already confirmed their travel plans can reserve a vaccine by contacting the PVA's Taiwan office by email, he added.
