UK To Remove All Testing Requirements For Fully Vaccinated Travelers From Feb 11

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced that all fully vaccinated travelers arriving into the country will be exempted from any Covid-19 test requirements.

At present passengers traveling to the United Kingdom (UK) are required to take a lateral flow test within 2 days of arriving. At times, the government has previously also required all passengers to take tests before departing for Britain.

Updating on the new exemptions, UK’s Transport Minister Grant Shapps said on Monday, “We are removing ALL testing measures for eligible fully vaccinated arrivals to England from 4 am on 11 Feb. These changes have been made possible by the success of our vaccine & booster rollout.”

TRAVEL UPDATE ✈️

We are removing ALL testing measures for eligible fully vaccinated arrivals to England from 4am on 11 Feb✅

These changes have been made possible by the success of our vaccine & booster rollout 💉 (1/4)

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— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) January 24, 2022

Those who do not qualify as fully vaccinated will no longer have to isolate or take a test on day 8. They will still have to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before traveling and take a PCR test after arriving in Britain, he said.

Shapps also added that arrivals in England who aren’t fully vaccinated will only need to take a pre-departure test and a PCR test on or before day 2 after arriving in England.

However, all passengers will still need to complete a passenger locator form.

Notably, the United Kingdom has also added 16 further nations, including China and Mexico, to its list of recognized vaccine certificates.

The Transport Minister also said that the option for a “Red List” of countries would remain in place to provide a defense against new variants of concern, but the government was looking at replacing its managed quarantine system with alternatives such as home isolation.

“These contingency measures will only be applied if we are particularly concerned about a variant of concern which poses a substantial risk, one that is even greater than Omicron,” he said.