Merkel: Double jabbed Brits will be able to visit Germany without quarantine in ‘foreseeable future’
Angela Merkel has today said British holidaymakers will be able to travel without quarantine to Germany in the “foreseeable future”, after previously indicating the opposite.
Merkel said after a bilateral meeting with Boris Johnson today that recent “protective measures” at the German border were put in place when little was known about the Delta variant.
“We’re continuously reviewing our travel restrictions and we think that in the foreseeable future those that have received double jabs will then according to our classification, Britain is a high incidence area, will be able to travel again without having to go into quarantine,” she told reporters at a press conference.
The German chancellor said last week that she wanted more EU countries to follow Germany’s lead and implement tougher border measures against people arriving from the UK.
Brits are banned from entering Germany, except for special circumstances. Those that are allowed in have to quarantine for 14 days.
British government officials bristled at the suggestion and it was reported that Johnson would push Merkel in the Chequers bilateral to soften her stance on quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated Britons.
“We have adopted certain protective measures when we were not, as yet, so familiar with a Delta variant,” Merkel said.
“We now see that the share of those of the Delta variant in Germany is increasing very rapidly.”
The Telegraph also reported today that 5m Britons who have been doubled jabbed with an AstraZeneca vaccine made in India would not be able to travel quarantine-free to the EU as that particular batch isn’t approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Johnson played down the report at the press conference.
“I see no reason why the MHRA approved vaccines shouldn’t be recognised as a part of the vaccine passports and I’m very confident that will not prove to be a problem,” he said.
Today was Merkel’s 22nd and last visit to the UK as chancellor as she will retire from politics in September.
She became the first foreign leader since Bill Clinton in 1997 to address a British cabinet today, while also agreeing to a series of measures to improve the UK-Germany relationship.
This includes creating a new annual meeting between the UK and German cabinets – the first arrangement of its kind for the British government.