Your Choice of COVID-19 Vaccine Determined Where You Can Travel

Your Choice of COVID-19 Vaccine Determined Where You Can Travel

Contents In this Article

• Approved Vaccines by Different Countries or Regions
  • Approved Vaccines by the UK
  • Approved Vaccines by the EU
  • Approved Vaccines in China
  • Approved Vaccines in Russia
  • Approved Vaccines in Australia
  • Approved Vaccines in the USA
  • Approved Vaccines in Canada
  • WHO COVID-19 Vaccines for Emergency Use 
• Mutual Recognition
• The UK’s Vaccine App

Approved Vaccines by Different Countries or Regions

As the world re-opened its borders to international travel after the coronavirus pandemic, it became clear that your choice of Coronavirus vaccine determined where you’re allowed to travel.

Approved Vaccines by the UK

The requirements differ if you plan to travel to England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales.

The COVID-19 vaccines currently approved for use in the UK according to the NHS are the following:

• Moderna vaccine
• Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
• Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine
• Janssen vaccine

You qualified as fully vaccinated after 14 days of completing the full course of your vaccine. The day you receive your final dose does not count as one of the 14 days.

Formulations of these vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, also qualify as approved vaccines.

If two doses of a vaccine are required for a full course, you can mix two different types of vaccine from the above list and you must have both vaccinations under two different approved programmes.

You must prove that you have been fully vaccinated under an accepted vaccination programme with approved proof of certification.

The following are acceptable proof for vaccination status in the UK:

• the NHS COVID pass (England)
• the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EU)
• the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination card (US)
• a vaccine certificate

If your proof is a vaccine certificate, it must be issued by a national or state-level public health authority, be in English, French or Spanish, and include at least:

If your proof is a vaccine certificate, it must be issued by a national or state-level public health authority, be in English, French or Spanish, and include at least:

• your forename and surname(s)
• your date of birth
• vaccine brand and manufacturer
• date of vaccination for every dose
• country or territory of vaccination and/or certificate issuer

You should check the countries and territories with approved vaccination programmes and examples of proof of vaccination you will need to provide.

Related articles:

• US COVID Update: Masks No Longer Required in the US for the Vaccinated
• Italy Scraps Quarantine Requirements for Travellers from the UK and More
• Germany Eases Entry Requirements for Tourists

Approved Vaccines by the EU

The EU is planning to allow Americans and other vaccinated travellers to travel into the European and Schengen Countries, from this summer, if they have been vaccinated by a vaccine that is approved by the European Medicines Agency.

The vaccines currently approved by the European drug agency are:

• Comirnaty
• COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna
• Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca)
• COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen

It means that if you have taken the vaccine by Chinese makers like Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd. or the Russian Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac), you are likely to be barred from entry for the foreseeable future. Which of course may be a setback for international travel.

Approved Vaccines in China

On the other hand, China also only currently recognises Chinese-made vaccines, and its vaccines are not approved in the US or in Western Europe.

Currently, to enter China, you need a Health Declaration Form from the Chinese Embassy providing evidence of negative nucleic acid and IgM antibody tests for COVID-19 taken no more than 48 hours before you travel or alternatively, prove inoculation with a vaccine produced in China. Following health checks on arrival, you will then need to enter mandatory quarantine for at least 14 days. 

Bloomberg found a married couple based in Hong Kong, which has two vaccine options available; one from Sinovac and the other by Pfizer BioNTech. The wife plans to sign up for Sinovac for easier movement in and out of mainland China. Meanwhile, her British husband will go for the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, she says to boost his chances of visiting family in the UK.

Approved Vaccines in Russia

Russia, on the other hand, has approved three vaccine shots; CoviVac and produced by the Chumakov Centre, the Sputnik V shot, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute and finally, EpiVacCorona developed by the Vector Institute in Novosibirsk. Although only testing is required for Russia, no mandatory vaccinations are currently required..

The Russian government initially did not plan to introduce COVID passports. But at the end of January 2021, Russians started to receive electronic vaccination certificates. The Russian COVID passport is a QR code with data on the vaccination against the COVID-19 virus.

Vaccination information is stored in the registry of the Russian Ministry of Health.

You can get the document in two cases: if you have had the coronavirus or if you have been vaccinated. After the second shot of the vaccine, a certificate is issued with the dates of both procedures, the name and series of the vaccine and the doctor’s signature. An electronic version of the certificate automatically appears in your personal account on the public services portal.

The QR code of the vaccination certificate can be saved on your smartphone. It is also available through the mobile application “State Services” and “State Services STOP Coronavirus”.

Since 5 February 2021, COVID passports have been issued in Bashkortostan. The certificate also represents a unique QR code.

The holder of a COVID passport:

• is exempt from the “high alert” regime restrictions,
• can attend mass events,
• receives discounts in stores, swimming pools, restaurants and theatres in the region.

Other regions of Russia may also lift quarantine restrictions for vaccinated citizens. The decision is taken at the local level.

For millions of people worldwide who can’t choose which vaccines they get, the risk of more places becoming selective about which shots they recognize, especially given the vaccines’ varying efficacy rates, creates the possibility that even fully inoculated, people’s travel could still be limited.

Approved Vaccines in Australia

Vaccines approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia must meet strict standards that pass its tests on safety, quality and effectiveness, thus Australia has only approved two vaccines for its citizens:

• Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine
• Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine

If you were vaccinated with a Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine while overseas, you can register your vaccination on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) when you return to Australia. Currently, any other COVID-19 vaccine overseas that is not Pfizer or AstraZeneca cannot be registered to the AIR.

To register your vaccination in the AIR:

• obtain proof of vaccination when you receive the vaccine
• bring the proof of vaccination to Australia, which must be translated to English if it is in another language
• make sure to update your Medicare online account
• present the proof of vaccination as well as your Medicare card to a recognised vaccination provider in the country, who will verify your vaccination status and add the record of vaccination to the AIR

Find out more about travelling to the USA in our blog post: US Air Travel Rules: What You Need to Know.

Approved Vaccines in Canada

Health Canada’s drug authorization procedures have high standards and undergo extensive review. The vaccines should have scientific and medical evidence showing that they are safe and effective, and the benefits should outweigh any risks before they are approved.

The list of approved vaccines in Canada are:

• AstraZeneca
• Pfizer-BioNTech
• Bamlanivimab
• Veklury
• Casirivimab and imdevimab
• Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine
• Moderna
• Covishield

WHO COVID-19 Vaccines for Emergency Use 

Inclusion in WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) is a prerequisite for COVAX Facility vaccine supply, allowing countries to expedite their own regulatory approval to import and administer COVID-19 vaccines. 

The EUL assesses the quality, safety, and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as risk management plans and programmatic suitability, such as cold chain requirements. 

WHO statement on Emergency Use Listing

Mutual Recognition

It has been more than a year since Europe, the USA, and others have shut their borders amid the pandemic, some allowing entry only to citizens, and even then, with weeks-long quarantines after arrival. While vaccines are seen as the way to remove those entry barriers, considerable uncertainty remains over how, or if, nations will differentiate the at least 11 shots available worldwide.

Governments from China, to the USA, to Europe are discussing vaccine passports, but it’s unclear if countries will pursue universal recognition of all shots, or be selective on which they choose to recognize, particularly with the rise of virus variants and questions over whether the current crop of vaccines is as effective against them. China is expected to approve the Pfizer BioNTech jab later this year.

China isn’t the only place that’s restricting access to people with certain vaccinations. Iceland currently omits Chinese and Russian vaccines from the list of those it approves for entry.

The question of vaccine recognition is going to come to a head for tourism-dependent countries, with the $9 trillion global travel industry effectively paralyzed since the pandemic began. Expect things to change.

For example, Chinese tourists have been among the biggest groups of foreign visitors to travel hot spots in Europe, America, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand before the pandemic.

While Indonesia, home to Bali, and Thailand have approved and are administering Chinese shots, New Zealand and Australia, which has seen their relations with China deteriorate the past year, do not.

The UK’s Vaccine App

Evidence of having had a vaccine is vital for some airlines, holidays and cruises while reducing the number and cost of tests in destinations like France, Greece and Cyprus.

Vaccinations will not be necessary at most destinations, but mandatory for many cruises, some tours and a handful of flights this summer. Greece, Spain, and Portugal have said UK travellers won’t need to be vaccinated for travel this summer. However, if you have not been vaccinated you will have to submit to COVID-19 tests and therefore face increased costs.  

The UK government has said it is developing the NHS app to provide proof of vaccination at airports and borders. This will be your vaccine passport. It’s not yet clear exactly how this will work and if it is interoperable with the EU’s digital green certificate. 

The UK vaccine passport will be on the main NHS app, rather than the test and trace app.  Proof of your vaccination status will automatically be uploaded to the app, but in some cases, you may need to request your GP to add your details.

Other issues with the app are that you need to be running the latest version of your phone’s software and therefore is unlikely to work on some older smartphones.

A paper version will also be available but both will be available from Monday, 17 May, when the ban on foreign travel is eased.

Other countries across the EU have already developed vaccine passports. Denmark’s is live but undergoing further testing. Italy expects to have theirs ready by this month. Germany's is also ready to launch but is also under further improvements as it is hoping to integrate to the EU wide app, and Norway is hoping to launch theirs by June.

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