Fully-jabbed travellers from EU and US could avoid quarantine

Fully-vaccinated US and EU nationals could be allowed to travel to the UK without the need to quarantine, under new plans being discussed by the government. 

According to reports, ministers are set to sign off on the plans on Wednesday – allowing fully vaccinated EU travellers using the bloc’s “green pass” to come to England without having to isolate as soon as next week.

US citizens with a valid vaccine card are also expected to have their documents recognised, as long as their vaccines are also authorised for use in the UK.

According to the Financial Times, arrivals from both the EU and US would still have to present a negative pre-departure test and take a further test on day two of their stay in the UK.

The PM is reportedly pushing for the change amid concerns the rest of Europe is ahead of Britain on reopening international travel, and that not acting will mean the UK is “squandering its vaccine bonus.” 

Currently, people who have been fully vaccinated in the UK do not have to quarantine when travelling from the US and EU because those places are on the amber list (and some EU countries are on the green list). But that exemption does not apply to people who have been vaccinated outside the UK.

Anyone who was fully vaccinated outside the UK still has to quarantine for 10 days on arrival or pay for the test-to-release scheme to shorten their quarantine.

The change in rules would be welcomed by the travel sector, which has been calling for more long-haul routes to be opened up to give businesses a life line after the strain of multiple pandemic lockdowns.

Heathrow, Virgin and BA have all conducted trials with travellers from the US and EU to encourage ministers to open up travel for vaccinated tourists. They said their 10-day pilot scheme proved the vaccination status of travellers can be efficiently and accurately checked away from the border.

Around 250 fully vaccinated passengers on selected flights from New York, Los Angeles, Jamaica and Athens earlier this month presented their credentials using paper or digital formats before boarding the plane.

Some 99 per cent of their documents were verified as authentic, with just two passengers’ credentials rejected. In one case there was a discrepancy between the name on the vaccine card and the name on the passport, while another involved someone who had been fully vaccinated less than 14 days before travel.

John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow Airport said: “The vaccine has been a miracle of science, and these trials have shown that we can allow fully vaccinated passengers from the EU and US to visit the UK without quarantine.”

Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, said the UK’s current “overly cautious approach” would harm its economic recovery and put half a million jobs at risk.