Vaccination Update
As at 18th October, a total of 94,963,415 doses of a coronavirus vaccine had been administered in the UK, with 46,462,425 people receiving a first dose (86% of the population aged 12 and over) and 45,400,990 people receiving both doses (78.9%).
International Travel Update
Following last week’s report of the reduction in the numbers of countries on the red list, the government have announced that from 24 October, fully vaccinated passengers and most under 18s arriving in England from countries not on the red list can take a cheaper lateral flow device test (rather than a PCR test) on or before day 2 of their arrival into the UK. These can be booked from 22 October. Passengers must upload a photo of their test to verify results as soon as possible.
More details of the changes can be found in the government announcement here.
Travel to the USA
The US has said that it will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from 33 countries on 8th November.
Under new rules announced by the White House, vaccinated people who have had a negative test in the 72 hours before travelling will be allowed to enter.
The new rules will apply to Schengen countries – a group of 26 European nations – as well as the UK, Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, and South Africa. It was also confirmed that travellers will not be required to go into quarantine upon entering the country.
