UPDATED: UK to end testing for vaccinated travellers
The change follows the abolition of pre-departure tests for new arrivals to all four UK nations on Friday 7 January
Day two lateral flow tests will be dropped for all fully vaccinated inbound travellers visiting the UK from 11 February.
The removal of testing was announced for England by Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to Milton Keynes University Hospital on 24 January, in which he stated that the decision was made to ‘show the country is open for business’.
The government of Scotland later confirmed that it will also remove testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers.
The Welsh government also confirmed that it would go along with the changes on 25 January, although Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford expressed reluctance about the decision.
Northern Ireland has also confirmed on 26 January that it would also follow the other three countries in removing the requirement.
"We continue to raise our concerns with the UK government about the speed at which it has removed public health protections in relation to international travel and the progressive erosion of such protections," Drakeford said.
The change in policy effectively ends Covid testing for fully vaccinated travellers entering the UK, and comes ahead of schools’ spring half term week, (14 and 20 February). Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travellers will still be expected to undergo day 2 testing.
The change follows the abolition of pre-departure tests for new arrivals to all four UK nations on Friday 7 January.
NHS digital Covid passes will be available for 12-15 year olds for the first time
Additionally, 12–15-year-olds will be able to download National Health Service (NHS) digital Covid passes. Previously, that demographic had been excluded from accessing the NHS app, effectively curbing their ability to easily prove their vaccination status.
This presents issues for families travelling to countries which require all travellers over the age of 12 to be double vaccinated. Previously, parents were forced to request an NHS letter confirming their child’s vaccination status.
Easing testing measures is expected to cause a surge in travel bookings
The decisions have been well received by the travel industry and is expected to result in a substantial rise in travel bookings in the coming months, following suppressed demand due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
Mark Tanzer, chief executive of ABTA described the move as a 'huge leap forwards in getting travel back to normal', and said:
“The relaxation of testing rules will make it easier for people to travel abroad for holidays, business and to see friends and family. As many families look to go abroad over the February half term, these changes will make the process of going on holiday cheaper and easier and will be a big boost for the industry’s recovery.”
Paul Charles, Chief Executive of travel consultant The PC Agency, said: “When it happens, it will be a terrific boost for the travel sector and crucially for consumers. It will mean cheaper holidays and business trips and the end of the testing nightmare the industry has faced for nearly two years.”
Johan Lundgren, CEO of airline easyJet, echoed this sentiment: “We believe testing for travel should now firmly become a thing of the past. It is clear travel restrictions did not materially slow the spread of Omicron in the UK and so it is important that there are no more knee jerk reactions to future variants.”
“We commend the government for removing all testing. easyJet plans to return to near 2019 levels of flying this summer and so we can’t wait to welcome our customers back onboard,” he added.
Antony Martin, Managing Director at ROCK Insurance Group commented: “We are seeing positive steps in the recovery of travel as simplifying the process and taking Day 2 testing costs out of the equation is providing people with more confidence to travel. We have already seeing green shoots of recovery in the travel insurance market this year."
Martin says that since the abolition of mandatory PCR and lateral flow tests for fully vaccinated travellers into the UK, ROCK Insurance has seen record policy sales via its B2C brand, Insurefor.com. Policy volumes for the company have reportedly doubled compared with the same period in 2019, driven by a younger customers - 80 per cent of bookings were under the age of 60.
"While the pandemic may not be over, we are optimistic about the recovery of the travel industry in 2022," he added.