Double-jabbed British expats ‘will be able to return to the UK to visit family quarantine-free from August 1’ under plans to finally recognise vaccines administered overseas
- Government currently only recognises jabs administered by UK vaccine rollout
- Means British expats who were jabbed abroad still have to quarantine on return
- But reports suggest the UK will finally recognise foreign jabs from August 1
British expats who have received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be able to visit family in the UK without having to quarantine from next month, it was claimed today.
The UK Government will formally recognise jabs administered overseas from August 1, according to The Telegraph.
That means that Brits living abroad who are fully vaccinated will be able to avoid a 10 day stay in self-isolation when returning from an amber list country.
Reports suggest that the Government will formally recognise foreign jabs for expats from August 1, paving the way for more quarantine-free travel back to the UK
Brits living abroad who are fully vaccinated will be able to avoid a 10 day stay in self-isolation when returning from an amber list country. A vaccination centre in Doncaster is pictured on June 27
The Government currently only recognises NHS administered vaccinations when it comes to international travel rules.
As a result, British expats who live in amber list nations have faced the barrier of quarantine even when they have had both doses.
Ministers are now reportedly planning to change the rules to allow Brits to register a foreign jab with their GP.
That should pave the way for double-jabbed people to be able to visit the country without having to self-isolate.
It is also thought that quarantine-free travel to the UK for double-jabbed foreign nationals could be opened up ‘very soon’ as the Government continues to seek reciprocal deals with countries which agree to recognise the NHS vaccine app.
The current amber list travel rules state that Brits who are ‘fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme’ do not have to self-isolate when they return.
However, people who are not ‘fully UK vaccinated’ do still have to quarantine for 10 days.
Formally recognising foreign jabs will make it much easier for British expats to return to the UK, with hundreds of thousands based in major EU countries alone.
It came amid reports that restrictions on travel from France will likely be dropped next week as the Government’s traffic light system is reviewed.
There have been a total of 46,563,452 first doses of a vaccine administered and 37,160,659 second doses. Last Sunday 60 new deaths within 28 days of testing positive were recorded, meaning today’s figure of 28 is a drop of more than 50 per cent
It is thought the country will be taken off the ‘amber-plus’ list as government officials believe the Beta coronavirus variant threat is being contained.
Sources claim the Delta variant prevalent in Britain is spreading faster than the Beta variant in Europe, and would ‘out-compete’ it in the coming weeks, according to The Times.
At present double-jabbed holidaymakers returning from France must quarantine for up to ten days because it is on the amber-plus list.