UK accepts UAE vaccine certificates, to allow quarantine-free travel from Oct.4

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Embassy of the United Kingdom in the UAE clarified that, as of Oct.4, the vaccination certificate from the UAE Al Hosn application will be in compliance with the rules for travel from the Emirates to the United Kingdom for those who have been fully vaccinated using one of the following vaccines: Moderna, AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Johnson.

This clarification comes on Twitter to another tweet by British Transport Minister Grant Shapps, in which he said: "We will accept certificates of vaccination approved in the Emirates after updating the Al-Hosn application."

According to the British government website, from October 4, a traveller from the UAE will be eligible to enter the United Kingdom without being subject to quarantine, under an approved vaccination programme in the United Kingdom, Europe or the United States, with a full course of the four vaccines, from number of countries, including the UAE.

Mansoor Abulhoul, UAE Ambassador to the United Kingdom, said, “We welcome the UK’s decision to recognise UK-approved vaccines administered in the UAE through our world-class vaccination programme from Oct 4.

“This will make it easier for Emiratis and our large British expat community living in the UAE to travel to the UK, for families and friends to reunite, and for businesses to enhance operations.

“We are looking forward to continuing to work with our friends in the UK in the global recovery from COVID-19. Today's announcement is an important step.”

The list includes Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

A full course of the approved vaccine must have been obtained at least 14 days prior to arrival in England.

Bloomberg Agency reported that the United Kingdom is adopting the vaccinations provided in the UAE, in light of the promotion of travel between two of the world's busiest routes.

The easing of travel restrictions comes as Dubai prepares to host the Expo 2020, which begins early next month.

London is one of the main destinations for travellers from or through the Emirates, and hundreds of thousands of Britons reside in the Emirates.

The Dubai-Heathrow route was the eighth busiest route in the world last September.

In a press interview, Shapps said: “We had 7.7 million passengers travelling between the UAE and the UK in 2019, before the pandemic started, and we want to go back to that level and more as well.”

Noting that his first trip outside Britain since the epidemic will be the Emirates next month.