Cyprus will allow vaccinated British tourists to visit from the beginning of May - although those who want to holiday there will have to wait a little longer due to the UK Government's restrictions on foreign travel.
The Cypriot Government said those who have had two Covid-19 jabs by May 1 will be welcome to visit the Mediterranean island from that date. However, the UK Government's roadmap out of lockdown does not allow for foreign holidays until at least May 19. A Global Travel taskforce will report to the Prime Minister on April 12 to determine whether non-essential travel can go ahead from May 19.
So far, around a million people in the UK have had both Covid-19 jabs. More than 20 million have had at least one dose.
Cyprus’s deputy tourism minister Savvas Perdios said the country would allow Britons who had been given vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency the right to enter without the need for a negative test or to quarantine.
Tourists would be required to have had their second dose at the latest seven days before travel, the minister added.
Cyprus has already struck a similar agreement allowing Israeli tourists to enter the country from April 1.
Foreign leisure travel will still be barred for people in England at the beginning of May, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the earliest Britons could jet away is May 17.
This is dependant on various factors related to the coronavirus pandemic, such as vaccine rollouts and the prevalence of Covid-19 variants.
Staycations could begin more than a month earlier, with people in England potentially permitted to stay in self-contained accommodation such as holiday lets from April 12 under Mr Johnson’s road map for easing lockdown restrictions.
