Travel to England without quarantine is about to become possible for a lot more people, and there’s no doubt the travel industry will be thrilled by this news.
In this post:
England opening up to vaccinated US & EU travelers
This is major. As of 4AM on Monday, August 2, 2021, England will be opening to fully vaccinated travelers from the European Union and the United States. Currently these travelers have to undergo a minimum of a five day quarantine plus testing in order to enter the country, while with this arrangement a quarantine will no longer be required.
Instead, travelers will simply need to complete a pre-travel coronavirus test, along with the Passenger Locator Form (PLF). On top of that, travelers will need to complete a coronavirus test within two days of arrival in England.
This decision was made at a meeting of the government’s coronavirus operations committee earlier today. More details are expected to be released later in the day, including whether this just applies to England or the whole of the United Kingdom, whether unvaccinated kids will be able to travel with vaccinated adults, etc.
Prior to this announcement, England had started to ease quarantine requirements for vaccinated travelers, but only for those who have been vaccinated in the United Kingdom. It seems a bit odd to create travel requirements based around where people have been vaccinated, though England isn’t the first place to take such an approach.
Don’t expect US restrictions on England to change
While England is opening to vaccinated Americans, unfortunately don’t expect this to be reciprocal. A few weeks ago it was revealed that travel restrictions between the United States and England were unlikely to end this summer. The logic was that neither country was willing to lift restrictions without reciprocity, and the United States was unwilling to lift restrictions against England.
It seems that at this point England is just moving forward with lifting restrictions, even without reciprocity. The Biden administration stated a couple of days ago that there are no plans to lift travel restrictions at this time, so I’d expect that policy to remain in place.
Personally I disagree with the logic — there’s no keeping out the delta variant (a vast majority of our cases are already the delta variant), Americans have had access to vaccines for months, and the vaccines work really well against hospitalization and serious illness. I think it’s time to let people reconnect, but that’s just me.
Bottom line
As of August 2, England will be opening to vaccinated people from the United States and European Union. A quarantine will no longer be required, but rather a coronavirus test before and after travel will do the trick. It’s awesome to see this news, it’s just too bad there’s not reciprocity.
What do you make of England opening to vaccinated travelers?
M
Good news
I wouldn't come here in summer, but if anyone's looking for another country, Saudi Arabia is open: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1902431/saudi-arabia
Should be reciprocal. Why should you be allowed to come here if we can’t go over there?
The UK needs tourist dollars/Euros.
The one thing stopping me from international travel was the thought of voluntarily going back to a place where there are mask mandates and restrictions after finally being granted my freedom here. Well with the ministry of truth's latest edict, I'm leaving. Not to UK, but to Phuket. At least there I won't have to listen to leftist virtue signalling and self righteous politicians pretending they are taking away our freedoms because of their sincere...
The one thing stopping me from international travel was the thought of voluntarily going back to a place where there are mask mandates and restrictions after finally being granted my freedom here. Well with the ministry of truth's latest edict, I'm leaving. Not to UK, but to Phuket. At least there I won't have to listen to leftist virtue signalling and self righteous politicians pretending they are taking away our freedoms because of their sincere care for us, and all in the name of science of course, because yeah vaccinated ppl wearing masks will most certainly make a big difference with this virus.
Scotland have now followed suit
And finally, 20 months late, I can visit & stay with family without isolation..
Though with rates escalating here I am sadly expecting US to go on the Red List....
I'm happy that the UK is coming to its senses, but then money speaks always on this planet.
Having read numerous mainstream news articles, and watched full press conferences from the UK and Australia to Israel, Germany, Spain and many places across the US. Especially when it comes to the US, UK and Australia. Vaccinated (primarily double vaccinated) people are carrying the higher percentage of new Covid cases. Yes, we can talk about the vaccinated...
I'm happy that the UK is coming to its senses, but then money speaks always on this planet.
Having read numerous mainstream news articles, and watched full press conferences from the UK and Australia to Israel, Germany, Spain and many places across the US. Especially when it comes to the US, UK and Australia. Vaccinated (primarily double vaccinated) people are carrying the higher percentage of new Covid cases. Yes, we can talk about the vaccinated being safer when it comes to illness, but actaully, the vaccinated are now the super spreaders...this is FACT!
Read again, the majority of the vaccinated are the ones spreading Covid, not the un vaccinated. Absolutely stunning, and fascinating at the same time.
The UK sits at 60% (manipulate the numbers through demos and it still sits at 54-62% of the vaccinated test positive for Covid now)
The US is running at 50-69% - 69% was Rhode Island batch test from earlier in July. So the lefties on here cannot say its a Red state or blah blah blah, the blue states are seeing the same test results. Its the double and single vaccinated who are getting sick and spreading it.
Israel concedes the vaccine is failing. Jpost . com and other Israeli news outlets reporting all of this very freely.
Australia came out with 141 tested positive, and yet all but one was vaccinated. A reporter later walked back the official on that....yet the same mis-speak happened in the UK days before, only to finally find out yesterday that it was indeed correct, and that the majority of cases now are the vaccinated.
People can argue the latest stats all they like, and the info is widely available. Pages of data at the CDC and UK NHS reflects the above.
All border restrictions worldwide need to end, and we all need to live with what is going on.
Pfizer just announced 3B in profit from the Covid shots for this past quarter, and project 33B in profits for the year. Think on that.
Safe travels.
This isn't the first time the author on here has shown their apparent lack of knowledge of how the UK is divided up. Scotland (and the other devolved nations) have also agreed to this. For a travel writer, I'd hope they understand that the UK isn't England...
RB, cut Ben some slack. When this was initially announced, at least where I saw it, the news about the devolved nations wasn’t yet clear.
Does this mean that a friend from UK can come to visit me in Florida , spending 14 days in Turkey prior, and then we both fly together to London, he needs to go to quarantine and I am allowed to roam freely?
Your friend from the UK cannot come to Florida.
Yes he can if he spends 14 days in Turkey (and some other countries too) as ovacikar states they will.
The travel ban is based on where you have been in the previous 14 days not your nationality.
If an American visits England, what's the story about returning the United States?
Test before departure. Or, alternatively, proof that you recovered within the last 90 days.
I’m unaware of any exception to the “test 3 days before US return” rule for previous COVID “recovered”.
Care to include a link?
Sure:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html
How do we interpret the day 2 test? If I fly to London on Friday, that's day 0. If I fly back home on Sunday, that's day 2. Will I need the day 2 test, if I leave on that day?
You have to book your day 2 test and add the details on your passenger locator form before you fly to England, which basically means you’re paying for it anyway. I don’t know the answer though, if you can officially skip it. I would imagine not because in those two days you could be infecting others and that’s the whole point of making you take the test! Track and trace tends to call people up to check and remind and your results do get passed on to the NHS.
You have to take it either on day 0, day 1 or day 2. As Phillip says, you need to pay for it anyway because you need the reference number for your PLF. So you might as well take it. If you leave on day 2, the results probably won't be returned by then anyway.
Pretty sure the US requires testing before flying in so you're gonna have to take the test anyway. Also, the requirement isn't on the 2nd day, it's just within two days. So you could schedule it for anytime after you arrive in London since that will be within 72 hours of your travel back to the US.
Thanks! Not really what I wanted to hear, but if those tests are 20 GBP, it's not the end of the world. I hope missing the test appointment won't make it more difficult for me to enter the UK next time, then.
Totally ridiculous that Americans can travel to the U.K. without any proper proof of vaccination apart from a CDC card. They can easily be forged. Whereas Europeans /U.K. nationals have official documents, an app and QR codes
Why they h— is it ok for Americans to be able to visit London without paying for the equivalent of an ESTA etc and British wh are healthy and double jabbed can’t visit
New York
They...
Totally ridiculous that Americans can travel to the U.K. without any proper proof of vaccination apart from a CDC card. They can easily be forged. Whereas Europeans /U.K. nationals have official documents, an app and QR codes
Why they h— is it ok for Americans to be able to visit London without paying for the equivalent of an ESTA etc and British wh are healthy and double jabbed can’t visit
New York
They also do more testing in the U.K. Eskimo, so claiming Americans will bring it back when they’ve been travelling to and from Mexico which has never had any restrictions is ridiculous.
Did that tantrum make you feel better?
I hope so, because it definitely didn’t accomplish anything else.
You make an excellent argument. Such is the position of the current guy who raked the previous guy over the coals when it was reasonable to close borders and stop travel early in the outbreak of COVID when there was no vaccine available.
England or the United Kingdom?
England only I'm pretty sure. Scotland, for example, has been stricter on this the whole time as far as I know.
The Delta variant is much less deadly. British numbers thru 21 June showed 24% of cases as the Delta variant. The main strain (Alpha) was about 70.3% of cases and Delta was 28.8%. 1.9% fatality rate with Alpha and .1% with Delta strain. If Delta becomes dominant strain then good.
@ EC2 the lower death rates in the UK where Delta is prominent is entirely due to vaccinations and better medical interventions
Nope, Delta is definitely not less deadly it's just the excellent vaccination rates have reduced the risks massively for the most vulnerable.
Looks like a little fact checking is in order!
From today's Guardian:
"Government sources stressed the change was not guaranteed and subject to a final agreement at the meeting, with conversations also taking place during the day between Whitehall and the devolved administrations about whether it would apply to England only or all four UK nations."
Disagree with allowing Americans in without reciprocity. I think we should close the border to the US/put the US on the red list. I know this sounds ridiculous. But I think it's the only way to bring the US to the negotiating table on reopening the other way around.
A negotiating table implies that both parties have something to gain and lose. The UK needs our tourist and business traveler money a lot more for their economy than we do. Americans have alternatives to go to the rest of Europe that's why the UK needs to open up,
Also Ben this answers your question you posed just several hours ago about wondering why JetBlue was going full steam ahead with their London flights
Obviously they knew something we did not...
Additionally, it also looks like the nonsense policy of having fully vaccinated people isolate for 10 days when pinged by the UK exposure app, which was causing havoc in their economy, will end on Aug 16.
Many in the UK are turning it off. Luckily the vast majority of people I know never downloaded the bothersome app in the first place.
Surely if this is true and starting soon the USA will reciprocate it back with English travellers coming to the US
While I agree that the current US policy makes no sense, that’s a silly assumption*.
Americans are able to visit many EU countries today with no reciprocity.
*unless you’re being sarcastic, and my coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.
No I wasn't being sarcastic, my point is the UK are a bit more powerful than the large majority of European countries and the corridor alone between US and the UK is extremely beneficial to both economies and its not say Greece we are talking about hear who largely rely on tourism, the UK are doing just fine without allowing Americans in. So if I were say the PM of the UK I would not...
No I wasn't being sarcastic, my point is the UK are a bit more powerful than the large majority of European countries and the corridor alone between US and the UK is extremely beneficial to both economies and its not say Greece we are talking about hear who largely rely on tourism, the UK are doing just fine without allowing Americans in. So if I were say the PM of the UK I would not allow Americans in (even vaccinated) unless the US did the same or a similar sort of thing for UK travellers.
Ah, silly assumption then.
Carry on!
Well it's apparently just fine to fly into Mexico and just walk across the open border into Texas so any English wanting to visit now can do that.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is following "science" and listening to "medical expertise".
Science has already proven fully vaccinated people can still get the virus, especially the Delta variant.
Unfortunately Biden can't stop vaccinated Americans from going to UK to get infected and just spread it back in USA.
We may see numbers rise again.
"can"
Oh does that mean there is no 100% protection? That is sooo unfair.
There is tons of evidence that all vaccines significantly reduce the transmission. And I hate to break it to you, but number are already rising in the US, with UK borders closed - not that I care because they are rising mainly among those not vaccinated, and they could have gotten their shots months ago.
You don’t know what you are talking about. Israel had one day where they tested over 90k and 52% of the people that tested positive were fully vaccinated. There’s a concern that the vaccinated are holding a larger viral load.
EC2,
You’re more than welcome to continue to live in fear.
I’m vaccinated and am living my life.
Enjoying the eternal spring of Medellin, Colombia at the moment. Italy, in 3 weeks!
I don't live in fear.
Many reckless people are not afraid. Being vaccinated does not mean you are bulletproof.
"Israel had one day where they tested over 90k and 52% of the people that tested positive were fully vaccinated."
Yeah, and let's assume Israel will reach 100% vaccination rate, what do you suppose the percentage of vaccinated among those tested positive would be? CORRECT: 100%. That does not tell you anything about the likelihood of transmission. And since 100% is obviously not realistic, to analyse the group of 90k you'd need to know at...
"Israel had one day where they tested over 90k and 52% of the people that tested positive were fully vaccinated."
Yeah, and let's assume Israel will reach 100% vaccination rate, what do you suppose the percentage of vaccinated among those tested positive would be? CORRECT: 100%. That does not tell you anything about the likelihood of transmission. And since 100% is obviously not realistic, to analyse the group of 90k you'd need to know at least how many people of those 90k where exposed to the virus, and how many of the exposed tested positive afterwards, and break that down into vaccinated and unvaccinated. Then you could start to compare risk profiles.
Looks like you're the one who has no clue (or fell asleep in statistics class).
EC2, what matters is that if you are vaccinated with Pfizer, as almost all vaccinated Israeli's are, you are almost certainly going to experience mild flu-like or cold-like symptoms from Covid if infected. So despite infections going up rapidly in Israel, hospitalization and death don't compare to previous outbreaks there. So far that is holding true elsewhere amongst fully vaccinated people, and infection rates don't mean the same thing as they did before vaccinations were...
EC2, what matters is that if you are vaccinated with Pfizer, as almost all vaccinated Israeli's are, you are almost certainly going to experience mild flu-like or cold-like symptoms from Covid if infected. So despite infections going up rapidly in Israel, hospitalization and death don't compare to previous outbreaks there. So far that is holding true elsewhere amongst fully vaccinated people, and infection rates don't mean the same thing as they did before vaccinations were available.
We have known that all along, but the rate of infection once vaccinated is very small. How long do you want people to be restricted from the things they used to do? Until there is 0% chance of getting COVID? That is unlikely to happen with so many people refusing the vaccine. Life has risks and the risk of COVID once vaccinated is small enough to make normal life reasonable. It's time to push back...
We have known that all along, but the rate of infection once vaccinated is very small. How long do you want people to be restricted from the things they used to do? Until there is 0% chance of getting COVID? That is unlikely to happen with so many people refusing the vaccine. Life has risks and the risk of COVID once vaccinated is small enough to make normal life reasonable. It's time to push back on those who are denying science and data and still seeking to control our lives. Didn't many predict that? Such restrictions does little to counter the conspiracy beliefs of some that are keeping them from getting vaccinated.
Not very small, just smaller.
Latest figures are 3% of Covid deaths are fully vaccinated. That could mean that if 15M vaccinated people get Covid-19, 100,000 will die. That's not nothing.
Numbers are already rising in the US, there’s no need to visit England for that to happen.
I would wager to say since the UK is several weeks ahead of us in their spike, we'd be bringing the virus to THEM instead of the other way around.
Further, you still need a negative test to get back into the USA.
I'm not sure this logic checks out. :)
They do not need to. Numbers are sky high in the USA, and the levels are ramping up. The UK has more protection (if one wishes to call it that).
Bingo. Wonder if we will hear that from those who made this argument most of last year?
Suddenly, everyone here starts bringing in % to support. Yet I doubt any of you even know the methodology behind those statistics.
Too much fake news.
So now I'm proposing a theory.
This virus can detect your brainwaves and transmit better if you are dumb or self centered.
With the exception that anyone who can lick their elbow is immune to this virus.
Anyone who just tried to lick their elbow probably will get infected or is already infected.
My theory holds.