The UK removed the “Traffic light” system earlier this week, however, most of the world still had to go through quarantine on arrival in the UK, as the UK did not look at their vaccination programmes as the same as their own. For starts, even Covishield was not equal to Astrazenaca’s own production in Europe, but that was rectified pretty quickly. In reciprocity to the UK being stringent on fully vaccinated Indians, India imposed a ten-day quarantine on those arriving from the UK from October 4, 2021.

47 countries and territories removed from the red list

The UK Government has confirmed that from Monday, October 11, 2021, 47 countries and territories will be removed from its red list. Passengers returning to England from these destinations will no longer be required to enter hotel quarantine. Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela are the only seven destinations that remain on the red-list of the UK for now.

UPDATE: From Monday (11th Oct) 📅 I’ll be cutting 47 destinations from our red list – including South Africa, with just 7 countries and territories remaining ⚠️ – all others will be included in the “rest of world” category 🌐 [1/3]

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 7, 2021

37 countries will be able to travel to the UK without quarantine requirements

The UK Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, has also announced, that from Monday, October 11, 2021, eligible travellers vaccinated in over 37 new countries and territories including Brazil, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey, will also be treated the same as returning fully vaccinated UK residents, so long as they have not visited a red list country or territory in the 10 days before arriving in England.

From late October, eligible fully vaccinated passengers including those under 18 returning from the rest of the world country will have the option to replace their day 2 test with a cheaper lateral flow test, followed by a free PCR test if positive, reducing the cost of tests on arrival into England. The UK Government has also confirmed that passengers taking postal tests will be able to send a picture of their lateral flow test as a minimum requirement to verify the test result, with the ambition remaining to have this in place for people returning from half-term breaks by the end of the month.

I'm also making changes so travellers visiting England have fewer entry requirements, by recognising those with fully-vax status 💉 from 37 new countries and territories including India, Turkey and Ghana, treating them the same as UK fully vax passengers. [2/3]

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 7, 2021

The following countries count as “fully vaccinated” in the eyes of the UK from October 11, 2021:

1. Albania
2. Bahamas
3. Bangladesh
4. Bosnia & Herzegovina
5. Brazil
6. Chile
7. Columbia
8. Egypt
9. Georgia
10. Ghana
11. Grenada
12. Hong Kong
13. India
14. Indonesia
15. Jamaica
16. Jordan
17. Kenya
18. Kosovo
19. Maldives
20. Moldova
21. Montenegro
22. Morocco
23. Namibia
24. Nigeria
25. North Macedonia
26. Oman
27. Philippines
28. Pakistan
29. Serbia
30. St Kitts & Nevis
31. St Lucia
32. St Vincent & The Grenadines
33. South Africa
34. Thailand
35. Turkey
36. Ukraine
37. Vietnam

Travel Rules for those fully vaccinated

As per the UK Government, you are on the “fully vaccinated” traveller list, if you are on the list of countries whose vaccination programmes are approved per the UK, and you have been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days excluding the day of the vaccination. Check this page for details.

If you use a vaccine certificate as proof, it must be issued by a national or state-level public health authority, be in English, French or Spanish, and include as a minimum:

• your forename and surname(s)
• your date of birth
• vaccine brand and manufacturer
• date of vaccination for every dose
• country or territory of vaccination and/or certificate issuer

You will need to go to this page to get your Cowin updated certificate if you are from India.

You must:

• 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

You do 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

If you are fully vaccinated but do not qualify under these fully vaccinated rules, you must follow the non-vaccinated rules.

Travel from the rest of the world if you are not fully vaccinated

From 0400 Hours, October 4, 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.

Travel from red countries

From 0400 Hours, October 4, 2021, 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.

Bottomline

Travel to the UK from India will become much more open from October 11, 2021, onwards for fully vaccinated travellers, who will be able to arrive without an RT-PCR test before departure, and won’t have to quarantine in the UK on arrival from non-red-list countries.

What do you make of the new travel rules being eased by the UK?

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