Fully
vaccinated UK residents arriving in England from the amber list of countries
will not have to quarantine from July 19. They will, however, still have to undergo COVID tests before and after their return, said transport secretary Grant
Shapps.

Also Read | No jabs no job: Fiji to make vaccine compulsory

Addressing
MPs, Shapps said that people under-18 returning from the amber list of places
are also exempt from mandatory quarantine.

As
of today, anyone returning from the amber and red lists of countries is
required to quarantine for 10 days irrespective of vaccine status. According to
Shapps, full vaccination means, “14 days have passed since your final dose of
the vaccine”. Only vaccines given by the NHS will count, he added.

Also Read | List of requirements for Indians travelling to Dubai

Following
the change in rules, fully vaccinated people returning to the UK from the amber
list of countries will still be required to take a COVID-19 test three days
before travel and on the second day after returning.

“In
essence, this means that for fully vaccinated travellers the requirements for
green and amber list countries are the same,” Shapps said. However, he
cautioned that countries in the amber list may still turn red requiring a return to the quarantine mandate.

The
transport secretary said that officials were working towards extending UK’s
approach to vaccinated passengers from important markets later this summer such
as the United States and EU.

Also Read | UK reopening timeline extended by four weeks over Delta variant fears

Northern
Ireland plans to adopt the change from July 26. Scotland and Wales too are
considering adopting the same rules.

France,
Germany and Denmark are among countries in the amber list. Major holiday
destinations — mainland Spain, Greece and the US are also part of the same
list. A total of 30 countries continue to remain on the red list. The list of
countries will be reviewed again on July 15.

Also Read | Will vaccinated California workers have to keep masks on?

UK has vaccinated nearly
65% of its population, according to official sources. The vaccines approved in
the UK are: Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson &
Johnson’s Janssen vaccine which will be available later this year.