The UK Government is studying making its travel criteria more flexible so that those arriving from countries declared on the 'amber list', which is intermediate risk such as Spain and the Canary Islands, do not have to isolate themselves for ten days if they have already been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
According to the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, for now it would just be a proposal but their sources have already pointed out that the Minister of Health, Matt Hancock, one of the harshest voices within the Government on the issue of travel, is open to looking at the situation for those who are already vaccinated.
A spokesman for the Government consulted by Sky News has also recognized that there are discussions in progress to achieve "a safe return to international travel”, mainly in the face of a tourist season that for now looks complicated for British holidaymakers.
Currently, only eleven territories appear on the green list of the epidemiological traffic light and, of these, Iceland, Israel and Gibraltar are the only ones with a minimum of attractiveness for travel. Portugal fell off the list in the last revision and other countries such as Spain, Greece and Italy remain in amber, including all their islands.
"Recognizing the resounding success of the vaccination program, we have started to consider the role of vaccines in redesigning a different pattern of requirements and testing for travellers arriving in the UK,” the spokesperson told Sky News.
For now, the UK Government advises against travel to countries in amber and maintains rules that discourage them, including a coronavirus test prior to return, a ten-day home quarantine, and two additional tests on the second and eighth days of isolation.
