UK to lift quarantine for fully-vaccinated residents returning to England

London, Jul 8 (EFE).- Fully-vaccinated residents of the United Kingdom returning to England from amber-listed countries such as Spain or Greece will no longer have to quarantine from July 19, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said Tuesday.

The Conservative Party minister said travelers would still have to take a PCR test before departure and after arriving in England.

The rule change is likely to benefit UK residents looking to spend summer holidays in European destinations like Spain and France, although it does not open the UK up to fully-vaccinated EU visitors.

“We want to welcome international visitors back to the UK and are working to extend our approach to vaccinated passengers from important markets and holiday destinations later this summer, such as the United States and the EU,” Shapps added during his speech in parliament.

The UK government will consider full vaccination to mean 14 days have passed since the second dose of a vaccine.

“I don’t underestimate for a second just how difficult the last 16 months have been for those who have not been able to travel to see their families, and the tourism and for the aviation sector itself,” Shapps added.

Over 50% of Brits have had a full course of a Covid-19 vaccine. EFE

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