Fully vaccinated EU and US travellers no longer need to quarantine

Full vaccinated travellers arriving in Scotland from the EU and US will no longer have to quarantine from Monday.

The need for people to self-isolate upon arrival is being waived subject to countries covered remaining on the amber travel list.

The easing also removes the need for a PCR test on day eight after arrival.

All travellers will still be required to produce a negative test prior to departure and a negative PCR test on day two after arrival.

However, the rule change does not apply to those travelling from France due to concerns about the prevalence of the Beta COVID-19 variant.

The announcement follows UK transport secretary Grant Shapps announcing the same changes for England.

The Scottish Government said the step has been made possible by the success of vaccination programmes in Scotland and abroad with inbound travellers from the EU and US required to produce accepted documentation to prove they are fully protected with recognised vaccines.

Transport secretary Michael Matheson said: "This has only been made possible due to the overwhelming success of our vaccination programme here in Scotland when coupled with successful roll-outs of vaccination schemes in the EU and US.

"Fully vaccinated travellers will be able to travel to Scotland under this significant relaxation of international travel measures, providing a boost for the tourism sector and wider economy while ensuring public health is protected.

"This new arrangement will be carefully monitored by clinicians and kept under close review as we seek to put Scotland firmly on the path to recovery – but people should continue to think very carefully about travelling – especially given the prevalence and unpredictable nature of variants of concern."