Fully vaccinated UK residents arriving in England from amber travel list destinations will no longer have to quarantine from 19 July. They will, however, still need to pay for PCR tests before and after their return, the transport secretary said. Grant Shapps told MPs that under-18s returning from amber list places would also be exempt from quarantine.
Alan Price is CEO of BrightHR. He says “Removing the 10 day self-isolation will mean one less headache for employers who are currently trying to find a balance between agreeing to time off so employees can have a well-earned holiday abroad and making sure they aren’t left understaffed for a long period of time. A week’s holiday will be a week’s absence instead of potentially 2½ weeks.
It will also mean that more employees can start to take more leave, reducing a bottleneck situation at the end of the leave year which employers would have to manage.
“In an April survey of 5,000 people,found 60% of respondents said that they would get the vaccine if they had to to go abroad. “The same survey showed that 65% of those aged 18-24 and 63% of the 25-43’s have concerns about the side effects of the vaccine, compared to just 25% of those aged 65+. Whether or not the lifting of amber list quarantine for those who have received both doses makes a difference has yet to be seen.“
*Atomik Research on behalf of BrightHR,