Quarantine & Testing Update – For travelers from Red, Amber & Green list countries

Effective from 4 am Monday 4 October, you will qualify as fully vaccinated if you are vaccinated either:

• Under an approved vaccination program in the UK, Europe, USA, or UK vaccine program Overseas

• The UK Approved Vaccines are the Moderna vaccine, Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, Janssen vaccine.

• EU Approved vaccines by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)&Swissmedic for Switzerland for the residents from Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, and the Vatican City and EU country.

• United States - Residents in the USA must have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

• With a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua, and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Formulations of the 4 listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria, and Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines. You must have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England.

Where 2 doses of a vaccine are required for a full course, you will be able to:

• A mix 2 different types of vaccines, for example, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna

• You must have the 2 vaccinations under 2 different approved programs, for example, Australia and Japan, UK and USA, EU and Canada

Until 4 October, mixed vaccines are only permitted if you are vaccinated under the UK, Europe, USA, or UK overseas vaccination program. The rules for fully vaccinated people will also apply if you are either:

• Under 18 and resident in the UK or one of the listed countries or territories with approved vaccination programs

• Taking part in an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial in the UK, Australia, Canada, or the USA

If you qualify as fully vaccinated you will have to:

• Book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England

• Complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

• Take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England

Under the new rules, you will not need to:

• Take a pre-departure test

• Take a day 8 COVID-19 test

• Quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days after you arrive in England

You must be able to prove that you have been fully vaccinated (plus 14 days) with a document (digital or paper-based) from a national or state-level public health body that includes, as a minimum:

• Forename and surname(s)

• Date of birth

• Vaccine brand and manufacturer

• Date of vaccination for every dose

• Country or territory of vaccination and/or certificate issuer

If your document from a public health body does not include all of these, you must follow the non-vaccinated rules. If not, you may be denied boarding. If you are fully vaccinated in the USA, you will also need to prove that you are a resident of the USA. If you are fully vaccinated but do not qualify under these fully vaccinated rules, you must follow the non-vaccinated rules.    

Starting 4 AM Monday 4 October 2021, you must follow these rules if you:

• Do not qualify under the fully vaccinated rules

• Are partially vaccinated

• Are not vaccinated

Before you travel to England you must:

• Take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England

• Book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England

• Complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England.

After you arrive in England you must:

• Quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days

• Take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8.

You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.

1. Under the Test to Release scheme, you can choose to pay for a private COVID-19 test on day 5. If the result is negative (and the result of your day 2 test result was negative or inconclusive) you can end your quarantine.

2. You cannot take your Test to Release test until you have been in England for 5 full days.

3. The scheme is voluntary and applies to those quarantining in England only.

4. If you do not want to opt into the Test to Release scheme, you will need to quarantine for 10 days.

5. You cannot take part in the scheme if you have been in or through a country or territory on the red list in the 10 days before you arrive in England.

Travel from the Red List Country. Effective 4 AM Monday 4 October, you must follow these rules if you are:

• Fully vaccinated

• Partially vaccinated

• Not vaccinated

If you have been in a country or territory on the red list in the last 10 days, you will only be allowed to enter the UK if you are a British or Irish national or you have residence rights in the UK. Before you travel to England, you must:

• Take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England

• Book a quarantine hotel package, including 2 COVID-19 tests

• Complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

• When you arrive in England, you must quarantine in a managed hotel, including 2 COVID-19 tests.