Soldiers from the Royal Canadian Artillery Band take part in the Changing of the Guard in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, in London, Britain, October 4, 2021. (Kirsty O'Connor/REUTERS)
Doha: Starting from today, October 4, 2021 England will recognise Qatar administered vaccines. Travellers from Qatar will no longer have to quarantine upon arrival in England if they have received a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Qatar, Embassy of Qatar in London said in a tweet.
This means that most travellers from Qatar will no longer need to quarantine on arrival in England.
In its last update of international travel rules, England had changed the red, amber, green country list to a single red list and the rest of the world. If you’re travelling to the UK from a non-red list country or territory and are eligible under fully vaccinated rules, you only need to take a test on day 2 after you arrive. Qatar is not in the red list.
Fully Vaccinated Rules
Before you travel to England you must:
• Book and pay for a day two COVID-19 tests to be taken after arrival in England
• Complete a passenger locator form
You must take a COVID-19 test on day 2 after arrival in England.
If you will be in England for less than 2 days, you still need to book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test. You only need to take the test if you are still in England on day 2.
Children of all ages (upto 18) who are resident in the UK or a country with an approved vaccination programme do not have to quarantine. Children aged between 5 to 17 must take a day 2 COVID-19 test.
If you do not qualify under the fully vaccinated rules, then before you travel to England you must:
• Take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
• Book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England
• Complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
When you arrive in England – not fully vaccinated
• After you arrive in England you must: quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
• Take your pre-booked COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8 – you must book these tests before you travel.
• If you are in England for less than 10 days, you need to quarantine for the time you are here. You need to book day 2 and day 8 travel tests. You only need to take the tests if you are still in England on those days.
You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.
Under the Test to Release scheme you can choose to pay for a private COVID-19 test on day 5. If the result is negative (and the result of your day 2 test result was negative or inconclusive) you can end your quarantine.
If you choose Test to Release, you must still book and take your 2 compulsory travel tests. You can book Test to Release at the same time as your compulsory tests.
