UK travellers might not need PCR tests when they arrive back from green list countries, depending on scientific findings about transmissibility of Covid variants.
The Telegraph reported that Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is in favour of a “vaccination dividend” for jabbed travellers but “ministers would need to be reassured by scientists that there was no serious risk of transmission from those who had been inoculated”.
He told a transport webinar hosted by think tank Policy Exchange that a change in the travel rules would be considered in the June 28 review of the traffic light system.
The Telegraph reported that the review depends on findings from scientists at the Ministry of Defence’s Porton Down labs, who are studying the extent to which a fully vaccinated person can bring back a variant of concern.
Meanwhile, Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, and Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators’ Association, have written an article for the Telegraph, saying the current rules are damaging Britain’s attempts to compete economically with other countries that prioritise the vaccinated.
They wrote: “There is no recognition for someone’s vaccination status, unlike the EU’s and US’s planned approaches … In effect, despite its slow start to vaccinating its populations, the EU has now stolen a march on the UK.”
The EU’s proposed green certificate allows unrestricted travel for the vaccinated, with those who are not vaccinated required to take PCR tests or demonstrate they have previously had the virus.
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