Fully vaccinated travellers from US and Europe WILL be allowed to enter England without quarantining, ministers rule

DOUBLE-JABBED travellers from the US and EU will be allowed to enter England without the need for quarantine from next week.

Ministers made the decision in a bid to free up travel from overseas during a crunch meeting today.

The Covid operations committee gave the green light to fully-vaccinated visitors this morning.

And the restriction will end in just days.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed this afternoon: "We're helping reunite people living in the US and European countries with their family and friends in the UK.

"From August 2 at 4am people from these countries will be able to come to the England from an amber country without having to quarantine if they're fully vaxxed.

"The changes will apply to fully vaxxed people with an FDA or EMA vaccine - they’ll still need to do the usual pre-departure test before arrival and take a PCR test on day two of returning to the England.

"We will, of course, continue to be guided by the latest scientific data.

"However, thanks to our world-leading domestic vaccination programme, we're able to look to the future and start to rebuild key transatlantic routes with the US while further cementing ties with our European neighbours."

It comes as:

• More countries are expected to be added to the green list next week, including Italy, Germany and Poland
• The US is unlikely to lift the UK travel ban by the end of summer
• Spain could be added onto the amber plus list if Beta cases rise
• Would-be holidaymakers are urged to check their travel insurance NOW to make sure they're covered
• Airlines are launching amber list holiday sales to Greece, Spain and Portugal

The news follows a trial to check the vaccination status of passengers, which was carried out by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Heathrow.

The companies said 99 per cent of documents were verified correctly during the 10-day test, which involved about 250 fully-vaccinated participants from the US, the Caribbean and Europe.

Tory MP Sir Roger Gale said of the decision today: "For a travel industry on its knees, this could not be better news.”

Despite that, US citizens are still being urged not to travel to the UK by American's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

'US WILL RELAX IN TIME'

Meanwhile, the US border remains closed to UK travellers, and has done since March 2020, despite hopes it could be lifted by the summer.

The UK and US have set up a taskforce to discuss a travel corridor, although earlier this week the White House said it had no plans to lift travel restrictions for non-Americans.

But the PM told LBC on Wednesday: "We're talking to them the whole time."

And Mr Shapps said he expected the US to become more relaxed about allowing Britons to visit "in time".

"I've just spoken to my US counterpart today and in the US they still have an executive order which prevents travel from the UK, from Europe, from several other countries to the US," he said.

"So we're saying, 'You can come here, you can come visit, you can come see friends, you can come as a tourist if you've been double vaccinated and follow the rules without quarantine'.

SUMMER HOLS BACK ON

"We can't change that on the other side but we do expect that in time they will release that executive order, which was actually signed by the previous president, and bans inward travel."

Currently, double-jabbed Brits can travel quarantine-free to over 100 countries - including Spain and Greece. 

This means that anyone who has had their second jab at least 14 days before travelling will just have to follow green list rules instead of amber, which requires a pre-arrival Covid test and a day two test.

Ten countries including Italy, Germany and Poland are poised to be added to the green list next week, allowing quarantine-free travel regardless of vaccination status.

France is likely to be moved from the “amber plus” list, which requires all holidaymakers to quarantine on their return to the UK even if fully vaxxed, to the amber list.

Due to concerns over the Beta variant, France was placed in this new category.

It is feared that Spain could be added to the amber plus list next week too, although government sources have said it is unlikely to happen before the next travel review.