Foreign Travel and Quarantine
The Times argues that the current restrictions on foreign travel are not logical or reasonable and suggests the way forward is to lift the requirement to quarantine, so long as travellers have been fully vaccinated.
The Times view on travel caution: Vaccine Vacation
The government is being overly careful in its refusal to allow the vaccinated to go abroad without need of quarantine on return. It should change course
Photo - ANDY RAIN/EPA
Ministers like to claim that decisions on lifting Covid-19 restrictions are driven by “data not dates”. That may have been true of this week’s decision to delay unlocking by a month, which followed a rapid rise in infections. But when it comes to travel restrictions, there is scant evidence the government’s approach is rooted in either logic or reason. Despite growing evidence to show that the vaccines are highly effective in protecting against infection, ministers have refused to allow those who have been fully jabbed to travel abroad without needing to quarantine on return.
That ministers are considering plans to reverse this policy is therefore much to be welcomed. The proposals would allow anyone who has had two vaccine doses to avoid quarantine, although they will still have to be tested. This would effectively move the 160 or so countries presently on the amber list on to the green list for the vaccinated, and thus open up the possibility of quarantine-free travel to most holiday destinations in Europe. It is true that concerns over the Delta variant mean Britain has still not been added to the European Union’s “white list” of countries deemed safe to receive visitors from. However, the list is intended only as guidance and there are countries such as Portugal and Greece that have made clear their enthusiasm for British tourists to visit this summer.
The government should waste no time pressing ahead. Having been slow to shut the borders to prevent the arrival of the Delta or Indian variant, it is being unduly hesitant in loosening travel restrictions. As they stand, these restrictions are nonsensical and have little bearing on the goals of achieving herd immunity and managing day-to-day infection numbers. This is especially true as the evidence suggests those who have been vaccinated are not only at negligible risk of becoming infected but are also unlikely to transmit the virus to others. The purpose of the vaccine programme was to restore freedoms and it is unreasonably restrictive to prevent the half of the population who have been fully jabbed from enjoying this hard-earned liberty.
Indeed, Britain is becoming an outlier in this regard with at least 33 countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Greece, having made inoculated passengers exempt from quarantine rules. The EU has signalled that its green certificate, a travel document carrying proof of immunity or a negative test, will be operating from July 1, when most of Europe is expected to be open to foreign travel. Meanwhile there remain only 11 destinations that Britons may travel to without need of quarantining, among them the Falkand Islands, St Helena and the South Sandwich Islands. This despite the fact that the UK is one of the most heavily vaccinated countries in the world. Yet far from enjoying a “vaccine dividend”, Britain is falling behind Europe’s programme of unlocking, with inevitable economic consequences. British airports are projected to lose another £2.6 billion this summer while EasyJet announced it had moved its planes from the UK to Germany as a result of travel limitations.
There are still questions to be addressed and crinkles to be ironed out if the country is to loosen these restrictions. Border Force will need to make drastic improvements to its procedures after chaotic scenes at airports during the brief window when holidaymakers were allowed to travel to Portugal. It is also unclear as to whether unjabbed children under 18 would be exempt from quarantine. Nevertheless, ministers should act swiftly to give succour to a ravaged travel industry and to those attempting to salvage a summer holiday. The government has been careful so far to tread cautiously on the path to unlocking. However there is no good reason to impede the vaccinated from enjoying a foreign holiday.
