The countries accepting Covid vaccine passports for summer holidays

A number of countries are set to welcome UK travellers without them having to quarantine – so long as they have had their vaccine.

The UK Government is reported to be developing vaccine certification technology, which will allow for Brits to verify their vaccination status once travel is allowed. It creates the possibility of vaccinated passengers being able to sidestep some of the restrictions in place.

It will depend on how effective the vaccines are against new Covid variants that might emerge, a report on global travel has indicated.

However, some countries have already opened their borders to vaccinated arrivals from the UK, while others are pledging to do so at a later date. This is despite England still banning travel outside the UK until May 17 the earliest.

Until then, Covid regulations state that attempting to leave England to travel outside the UK, or even being at an ’embarkation point’ with the purpose of leaving the country, without a reasonable excuse could be punished with up to a £5,000 fine.

Estonia has already said that passengers who have either had the vaccine or a positive Covid test in the past six months will not need to self-isolate on arrival in the country from February 1.

In Romania, passengers who have had both doses of a vaccine will be allowed into the country without having to isolate, so long as their second dose was more than 10 days ago. Those who are not vaccinated will be asked to self-isolate, and will need a negative test taken no more than 72 hours before their arrival.

Georgia, Lebanon and Poland have also reopened their borders to travellers with both doses of a Covid vaccine. In Lebanon, passengers will also have to have a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on arrival as well.

The Seychelles opened their borders to all countries barring South Africa from March 25, regardless of their vaccination status. Those who have had both doses of a jab will not be quarantined, but will still need to have a negative test before they arrive.

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Croatia then began allowing passengers to arrive on April 1. All travellers in the country must have either a full vaccine certificate (with the second dose completed at least two weeks prior), a negative test no more than 48 hours before, or proof they tested positive for Covid no more than 180 days ago.

The same system has been put in place in Montenegro, but travellers must have had their second dose at least seven days before their arrival, or a Covid antibody test taken no more than 30 days ago.

It comes as Iceland opened their borders to all vaccinated travellers today, with arrivals needing a certificate proving they’ve received both doses of a Covid vaccine.

Belize has also become the first Caribbean country to welcome fully vaccinated passengers, and has waived the need for them to have a negative Covid test before their trip.

Ecuador opened its borders to vaccinated passengers on March 22 – despite being on the UK Government’s ‘red list’ of banned countries. Passengers will also need a negative Covid test before they arrive.

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Slovenia is currently open to passengers from the UK, but could require them to quarantine for 10 days, unless they are fully vaccinated with a Covid jab or have a negative test within 48 hours prior to their arrival.

Those who have the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must have had their second dose at least seven days before arriving, with the Moderna vaccine it must be at least 14 days, and with the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab it must be at least three weeks.

For those hoping to travel to Cyprus, the island is expected to allow fully vaccinated tourists to begin arriving from May 1. Greece will allow travellers who have been vaccinated, have antibodies or a negative test result from the same date.

Portugal is aiming to allow restriction-free travel with the UK for those who are vaccinated or test negative from May 17, while Spain hopes to welcome back British tourists carrying a ‘digital vaccine passport’ from May 19.

Thailand has also announced they will welcome vaccinated visitors to the island of Phuket from July 1, without them needing to self-isolate. The country currently has a a 10-day mandatory quarantine system in place.

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Those who can prove they have received both doses of a vaccine will also need to be tested for Covid-19 on arrival, and will be allowed to leave Phuket for other regions after they have been there a week.

Krabi, Phangnga, Koh Samui, Chonburi (Pattaya) and Chiang Mai will reopen to vaccinated travellers without a quarantine requirement in October.

Israel is also planning to allow all passengers to skip quarantine if they can demonstrate proof of Covid immunity. The Government has said the nation will reopen to tourists ‘in the middle of 2021’.

Hungary and Hawaii are also planning to reopen travel for vaccinated passengers without quarantine but are yet to give a date.

At present, anyone arriving on the Hawaiian islands must spend 10 days in mandatory self-isolation, unless they can provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of their arrival.

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