A swellable packer assembly that includes a mandrel, a sealing element disposed about a least a portion of the mandrel, and a degradable metal coating disposed about at least a portion of an outer surface of the sealing element. The degradable metal coating fluidly isolates the portion of an outer surface of the sealing element from an exterior of the coating and the sealing element is formed of a material responsive to exposure to a fluid in a wellbore to radially expand from the mandrel. The degradable metal coating is selectively removable from the mandrel downhole so as to expose the sealing element to the fluid in the wellbore.