Return of holidays abroad for people who are fully vaccinated
Double-jabbed tourists could be allowed to travel to amber list countries without quarantining under new government plans
Summer holidays abroad will be opened up for vaccinated Britons under plans being considered by the Government, The Telegraph understands.
Officials are drawing up proposals that could allow people who have had both Covid jabs to avoid having to quarantine on their return from
amber list countries, although they will still have to be tested.
The change would effectively turn amber countries green for the vaccinated, opening up the possibility of quarantine-free travel to most major holiday destinations
in Europe and the US.
The proposals to ease the restrictions for vaccinated people are said to be at an early stage. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, who has fought for
tough border restrictions, is said to be "open" to the change.
"They haven't definitely got there yet, but that's the direction of travel," a senior source told The Telegraph.
Officials are still working on whether any new regime would be limited to returning Britons or apply to all arrivals, what exemptions there could be for those who could not be vaccinated, and whether children under 18 should be exempted given that they will not have been jabbed by July 19.
"It is still at an early stage and it is not clear whether it will be worked out in time for the end of the month. There is an awful lot to do. The devil is in the detail," said a source.
A government spokesman said: "Recognising the strong strategic rationale and success of
the vaccine programme, we have commenced work to consider the role of vaccinations in shaping a different set of health and testing measures for inbound travel."
Changes to the current travel regime have been urged by Tory MPs and travel chiefs who fear the UK could
lose out to Europe economically as it lifts restrictions for vaccinated travellers. On Wednesday, the EU added the US and Hong Kong, key trading partners, to its "white list" for jabbed visitors to avoid tests or quarantine.
Henry Smith, the Tory chairman of the all-party Future of Aviation group, said Britain would be an "outlier" if it did not adopt the same approach to vaccinated travellers as most other countries.
At least 33 countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Greece, exempt vaccinated passengers from quarantine.
"If we don't do it, we will be at a significant disadvantage to our international competitors. Public health paranoia will have trumped common sense if we don't go down that route," Mr Smith said.
Under the traffic light system, there are just 11 countries on
the UK's green list – of which Iceland, Gibraltar and Israel are the only viable holiday destinations.
Anyone travelling to them is exempt from quarantine but has to have a pre-departure test followed by a PCR test on return to the UK to enable health officials to detect any variants.
As well as 10 days of quarantine, any traveller returning from
an amber country currently has to have a pre-departure test, then PCR tests on days two and eight of self-isolation, with the option of a test to release on day five.