NEWS: Malta changes their minds again on vaccination proof! UK-US reopening delayed, Portuguese rules ease slightly

Malta changes their minds again!

I previously wrote about how Malta was refusing to accept the digital NHS app vaccination proof or even the certificate that comes with a scannable code that you can download. Frankly, I would think faking an app would be far harder than a bit of paper. But Malta loves paper, I have never seen anyone scrutinize a Covid test so thoroughly and then to keep it before I went to Malta.

The good news is that it appears they have relented. Probably after they realised that thousands of people that had just booked when it went green were now cancelling if they were due to travel shortly! The Maltese government is making out it was only a temporary one-day issue which was what they had planned all along…. Honestly you could not make this up!

Despite it stating very clearly on the Maltese, British High Commission in Malta social media and FCDO websites that they will not accept the app or downloads from the app, The Times of Malta has said that the issue only applies today 30 June. From tomorrow, 1 July they will accept the NHS app.

The health minister clarified the requirements saying:

“We will be accepting EU COVID certificates as of tomorrow, and the UK certificate works with this system too, despite it not being part of the EU.

“Once we join the EU system, we will be able to read the [UK] digital certificate,” he said.

The EU-wide COVID pass system comes into effect on Thursday 1 July. 

You can read the full article here. The official sites are yet to be updated. 

UK-US reopening delayed

When they first said they were putting together a task force to look at reopening the UK-US border, I was optimistic that we would be looking at 6-8 weeks before the border was open. Initially, officials were aiming to have a decision by 4 July but those involved in the discussions say that is now highly unlikely. The reason of course is the Delta variant and the rise in cases in the UK. The US already has the Delta variant in almost every state, but understandably they are now feeling more cautious than before. Apparently, the UK is actually the keener of the two parties to push for the reopening. 

The talks about a US-UK travel corridor started last week, but officials are now saying the talks will extend into August or even September. The ban is on the US side which currently prohibits most non-US citizens who have been in Europe including the UK in the last 14 days from entering. It was originally brought in by Trump but despite him trying to reverse the ban when he left, Biden has kept it going. The irony of the ban is that many other countries not on the ban have had poor rates of Covid and variants present in large numbers such as Costa Rica which is on our red list. 

There is also concern about whether the US would recognize Astra Zeneca vaccines for travellers since it is not approved in the US. A recent concert by Bruce Springsteen caused concern in many countries as those with AZ vaccines were not allowed in. This is one of the things that is most ridiculous about the pandemic, when common sense goes out of the window. It’s been proved that AZ is very effective and it’s approved by the WHO. Just because the US doesn’t use it, it doesn’t make it any less of a vaccine than Pfizer. With many parts of the world using AZ, it would be a major issue if they refused to recognise it. 

Realistically I think the earliest we are likely to see an opening for the US is late August, although what happens with cases here will likely have a bearing. I have a trip in mid-September that I am still hopeful for.

Portuguese vaccination rules ease slightly

Both Portugal and Malta had announced that they were only accepting Brits who had been fully vaccinated except those under 12. This left families in limbo as under 18s are not eligible for the vaccine in the UK. In some ways, I see their point as cases of the virus are currently most prevalent in younger people, although you think that maybe they could overcome that with testing. 

The official Portugal page now says “Children up to 18 years old do not need to comply with 14 days isolation when accompanying adults have proof of complete vaccination “. However, unless they are under 12 they will need to test with a RT-PCR Test (or similar NAAT test) – 72h before boarding, or Rapid Antigen Test – 48h before boarding.

You can find the official page here.