Dominic Raab says only countries with ‘high trust’ could join US and EU in quarantine exemption

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says the introduction of a quarantine exemption for double-jabbed people entering from the US and EU I would only be extended to countries using similar vaccines to the UK.

The new exemptions were introduced as part of the government’s “easing out of lockdown” plan, according to Raab. The Foreign Secretary emphasised his reassurance in the fact that over 70 per cent of the UK’s adult population has been fully vaccinated.

Speaking to Sky News, Raab claimed to have already received calls from foreign ministers attempting to set up similar reciprocal arrangements with the UK.

He explained that the “the key thing about the EU countries and the US is that they are countries where we have high trust in the mechanism for verifying double vaccination.”

When asked if the new rules would be extended to every EU country, he replied that the exemption would only apply to people with EMA or US FDA approved double vaccinations. Other jabs – such as the Chinese Sinopharm or the Russian Sputnik vaccine – would not be accepted.

In response to concerns raised about new variants coming into the country, he claimed the US and EU exemptions meet “the right level of security and assurance”.