The UK government has announced that starting on August 2nd, the quarantine in England will no longer apply for people coming from the United States and the European Union who have been fully vaccinated. All passengers fully immunized with vaccines licensed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the Swiss vaccination program, will be able to travel to England from countries in the amber zone.
We have made great strides in being able to reopen international travel. Whether it’s a family getting together for the first time since the start of the pandemic or a business benefiting from increased trade, we can all enjoy this progress
Grant Shapps, UK Transport Secretary
It will still be compulsory to present a negative test on entry to England and to take a PCR test within two days of being on British soil. Quarantine will still be required when arriving from a territory on the amber plus list, such as currently France, or on the red list, such as many in Latin America.
Those vaccinated in the United States must provide proof of residency. All travelers, regardless of their vaccination pattern, will be required to complete a form so that they can be traced at all times while in England.
We will continue to be guided by the latest scientific data, but thanks to our world-leading national vaccination program, we can look to the future and begin to rebuild key transatlantic routes with the United States. While strengthening ties with our European neighbors
Grant Shapps, UK Transport Secretary
Until now, only nationals who had received the vaccination regimen in the UK were exempt from doing the 10-day quarantine on return to England from abroad. The change will mean that any fully vaccinated national of an EU or EU country will be able to enter England without the need for isolation.
Scotland and Wales will adopt the same policy as England regarding vaccinated travelers from amber countries in Europe and the USA, although it is not known at this stage what Northern Ireland will do. Likewise, it is not known if this decision will imply any change in the travel policy of the United States, which for the moment remains tightly closed and will not apply reciprocity with Canada, which will open to vaccinated American neighbors as of August 9.
With this change, the UK is finally opening to international tourism with most European countries and the United States (for the time being without reciprocity in the case of the United States), at least for citizens who have received been fully vaccinated, and who come from countries in the “amber list”. A review of the color-coded list is currently scheduled for August 4.
