When in September the UK announced it would revise its travel system in early, many international travelers felt relieved. Transport secretary Grant Shapps described it as a “new clearer travel system.” The announced changes included allowing fully vaccinated travelers arriving in England from much of the world to skip quarantine and take fewer tests. That’s not exactly what happened.
Discontent first spread among travelers and authorities from India and some African countries. Furthermore, there’s a lot of confusion regarding the US’s new Covid-19 travel rules.
From 4am Monday 4 October 2021, the rules for international travel to England will change from the red, amber, green traffic light system to a single red list of countries and simplified travel measures for arrivals from the rest of the world. The rules for travel from countries and territories not on the red list will depend on your vaccination status. See section below (Changes) for further details.
According to the Associated Press, the specifics on who is to be considered as “fully vaccinated” is proving far more complicated. In order to skip self-isolation, travelers must have received a vaccine under the American, British or European programs or have received a UK-authorized shot from an approved health body. Entities in more than a dozen countries in Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle East made it to the list. India, however, did not. The same went for Africa.
Countries like Kenya, which has received hundreds of thousands of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the UK, were not included. The Associated Press reports that these rules implemented in the UK could exacerbate the already worrying vaccine hesitancy in Africa. Some people wonder: why is it not good enough? The South African Medical Association chairwoman Dr. Angelique Coetzee called the rules discriminatory “totally unacceptable.” South African authorities objected not only to the new quarantine rules but also to the fact that the country remains on the red list.
After the initial release of the new rules, authorities in Britain have made a slight change regarding one point: Covidshield. Doses of AstraZeneca made in India, known as Covishield, were initially not on the list of approved vaccines. The vaccine, which is manufactured in India, hasn’t been formally authorized by UK regulators. Some doses, however, have been used in Britain, and millions were shipped to low- and middle-income countries.
Covishield has since been added to the UK’s list of approved vaccines for travelers, the Associated Press reported, but the group of approved public health bodies remained unchanged. Before Covishield was added to Britain’s travel list, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told media: “We understand that this has been used in (Britain’s) National Health System and therefore non-recognition of Covishield is a discriminatory policy.”
For African countries, the new UK rules do not offer a positive outlook. Less than 4% of Africa’s population of 1.3 billion is fully vaccinated. Many have witnessed in silence how richer countries continue to accumulate doses and begin to explore the possibility of giving third shots to their populations.
Changes
If you arrive in England before 4 October, you must follow the current rules. This means you must book and take any COVID-19 tests you need and follow the quarantine rules that are in place at the time you arrive in England.
Travel from the rest of the world if you are fully vaccinated
From 4am Monday 4 October, you will qualify as fully vaccinated if you are vaccinated either:
- under an approved vaccination programme in the UK, Europe, USA or UK vaccine programme overseas
- with a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Formulations of the 4 listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines.
You must have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England.
Where 2 doses of a vaccine are required for a full course, you will be able to:
- mix 2 different types of vaccine, for example Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna
- have the 2 vaccinations under 2 different approved programmes, for example Australia and Japan, UK and USA, EU and Canada
Until 4 October, mixed vaccines are only permitted if you are vaccinated under the UK, Europe, USA or UK overseas vaccination programme.
The rules for fully vaccinated people will also apply if you are either:
- under 18 and resident in the UK or one of the listed countries or territories with approved vaccination programmes
- taking part in an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial in the UK or USA – in due course, we expect to extend this to other countries
If you qualify as fully vaccinated you will have to:
- book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
- take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England
Under the new rules, you will not need to:
- take a pre-departure test
- take a day 8 COVID-19 test
- quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days after you arrive in England
You must be able to prove that you have been fully vaccinated (plus 14 days) with a document (digital or paper-based) from a national or state-level public health body that includes, as a minimum:
- forename and surname(s)
- date of birth
- vaccine brand and manufacturer
- date of vaccination for every dose
- country or territory of vaccination and/or certificate issuer
If your document from a public health body does not include all of these, you must follow the non-vaccinated rules. If not, you may be denied boarding.
If you are fully vaccinated in the USA, you will need to show a CDC card showing you’ve had a full course of an FDA-approved vaccine in the USA. You’ll also need to prove that you are a resident of the USA.
If you are fully vaccinated in Europe, you will need to show an EU Digital COVID Certificate (EU DCC), showing you’ve had a full course of an EMA or Swissmedic-approved vaccine.
If you are fully vaccinated, but do not qualify under these fully vaccinated rules, you must follow the non-vaccinated rules.
Travel from the rest of the world if you are not fully vaccinated
From 4am Monday 4 October, you must follow these rules if you:
- do not qualify under the fully vaccinated rules
- are partially vaccinated
- are not vaccinated
Before you travel to England you must:
- take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
- book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
After you arrive in England you must:
- quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
- take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8
- You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.
Travel from red list countries
From 4am Monday 4 October, you must follow these rules if you are:
- fully vaccinated
- partially vaccinated
- not vaccinated
If you have been in a country or territory on the red list in the last 10 days, you will only be allowed to enter the UK if you are a British or Irish national or you have residence rights in the UK.
Before you travel to England, you must:
- take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
- book a quarantine hotel package, including 2 COVID-19 tests
- complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
When you arrive in England, you must quarantine in a managed hotel, including 2 COVID-19 tests. The red list will be reviewed every 3 weeks and whenever concerning evidence means we may need to act faster to protect public health. More information available here.
