Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Government will remove Amber List quarantine for vaccinated and their children from August

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

The Sun has an exclusive report tonight (picked up by sister paper The Times, which means they are probably not making it up!) that the Government has agreed to lift travel restrictions for the ‘double vaccinated’ along with unvaccinated children under 16.

‘From August’ – no exact date is given – anyone will be able to visit an Amber List destination without the need for quarantine on their return.

You can read the article here. The Times version is behind a paywall.

Government will remove Amber List quarantine for vaccinated and their children from August

There is no clarification on what sort of testing will be required, but presumably the need for a ‘Day 2’ PCR test will remain.

The Sun claims that an announcement may be made on Thursday to allow airlines and travellers to make plans. Thursday is the next date for an update on which countries will appear on the ‘no quarantine required’ Green LIst.

The Sun implies that the August date is a done deal, and the only speculative element is whether ministers will decide to pull it forward to 19th July. This would coincide with the start of the school holidays in England.

Adults will only be allowed to avoid quarantine if they had their second vaccination at least 14 days before travel.

The big hole in the plan, clearly, is what happens if you have children aged 16-18. This age group is too young for vaccination, but will also not be exempt from 10 days of home quarantine if this story is accurate.

It is possible – and this is my hypothesis, not from The Sun – that the Government is trying to head off any fall-out from the ‘day of action’ planned by the travel industry tomorrow. This will include a protest on College Green at Westminster.

The Government has also been facing increased pressure from its own MPs. Huw Merriman, Conservative chairman of the House of Commons Transport Committee, said today that the approach to overseas travel was ‘far too cautious’.

It is also likely that press pictures of German tourists on the beaches of Spain and Portugal has started to feed back into pressure from voters for more freedoms in the UK.

To confirm, this story – whilst currently the top headline on The Times website (The Sun hides it under their England football coverage) – is still just ‘informed rumour’ ie a Government leak. Let’s see what happens on Thursday.

Category

General

Comments (160)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • pigeon says:
    22 Jun22 June 20:54

    Hopefully they’ll be able to roll this out sooner by extending the exemption to the under 30’s who have accepted a first jab at the soonest opportunity and are waiting on their second.

    • Sam says:
      22 Jun22 June 21:09

      I think that’s very unlikely. The consensus on exemptions given to vaccinated people in many other countries is that you have completed two doses, not one. It would also give a false message to the public that taking one dose is already enough, which in fact isn’t.

      • Kieran Fox says:
        23 Jun23 June 06:57

        Totally agree. This is all aimed at getting people to take both doses – not given to those on a ‘promise’.

  • Optimus Prime says:
    22 Jun22 June 20:57

    Right on time for Parliament recess. Who would have thought…

  • Liam says:
    22 Jun22 June 21:04

    Is there any indication whether this will be for all arrivals or just returning UK residents?

  • Karen says:
    22 Jun22 June 21:06

    What about those vaccinated by the single shot J&J vaccine in the USA?

    • Harry T says:
      22 Jun22 June 21:07

      This is about the UK.

      • Karen says:
        22 Jun22 June 21:10

        yes, but you could now be living in the UK and got have vaccinated abroad, e.g. in the USA, like me…

        • Will in SFO says:
          23 Jun23 June 03:20

          And even if they do ‘accept’ the J+J, you will then be faced with airline personal saying the CDC vaccination card isn’t valid evidence of being vaccinated. There was a thread over on FT about it. People saying the CDC vaccination card isn’t valid proof given it is not a ‘certificate’ like the NHS app (?) and other countries provide! Misses the point that the card is all you will get in the US.

          • Karen says:
            24 Jun24 June 12:12

            LA county has a vaccine barcode that can be added to apple wallet 🙂

        • John says:
          23 Jun23 June 04:02

          Ask your GP to upload it to the NHS database. They may not know how to do it though

      • Liam says:
        22 Jun22 June 21:13

        But it ties into my question above about whether it includes all arrivals or just UK residents returning from abroad. The J&J vaccine is approved for use in the UK.

  • Harry T says:
    22 Jun22 June 21:06

    Assuming the usual levels of government competence and efficiency, I’m assuming they meant August 2022? 😊

  • nerock says:
    22 Jun22 June 21:07

    The mandatory tests for green country visits are not fit for purpose either and the gov should admit it is failure on that too. Ridiculous that these massively expensive tests are not processed on time and hence not fit for purpose and the gov cannot do anything to enforce. They should use the NHS test capacity for this purpose instead, there should be plenty of that now.

  • Anna says:
    22 Jun22 June 21:08

    FCDO advice needs to change as well to make these proposals meaningful.
    I would guess they’ll extend the non-requirement to quarantine to all under 18s otherwise families will be all over the place.
    I don’t think they’ll reduce the testing for Amber countries though, I think if anything they’ll increase it on the pretext of keeping the country safe so that their mates can make another pile of 💰

    • meta says:
      22 Jun22 June 21:39

      Yes, it says so in article, but only if they travel with vaccinated parents.

      • Anna says:
        22 Jun22 June 21:56

        No it says 16 – this is causing some consternation in the Times comments!

    • TGLoyalty says:
      23 Jun23 June 07:22

      Does it really for Europe when you can travel with your healthcard?

      Obviously it’s ripe for being ripped off in an unscrupulous country / area but you wouldn’t be completely screwed like you would in USA / elsewhere.

  • Anna says:
    22 Jun22 June 21:11

    So if you go away on July 31st, will you be exempt from quarantine if you return in August?

    • Tony says:
      22 Jun22 June 21:16

      I would say yes. But say if you come back on August 10th and quarantine is abandoned on the 11th you won’t be exempted after 1 day.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!