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Minister for Health and Social Services Eluned Morgan
COVID

Holiday in Wales this year new Health Minister asks

Y Gweinidog Iechyd newydd yn gofyn i bobl Cymru fynd ar eu gwyliau yn y DU eleni

The Health Minister, Eluned Morgan is encouraging people to holiday in Wales and explore its beauty this summer as the fight against covid continues.

The Welsh Government has announced residents of Wales can apply for a certificate of vaccination for urgent international travel. The certificate allows them to demonstrate they have received the full course of a covid vaccine.

People living in Wales can request a certificate only if:

  • They have had both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (they should wait 5 days after their second dose before requesting it)
  • They urgently need to travel to a country which requires vaccine certification
  • They are not able to either quarantine or provide tests to meet country entry requirements.

International travel for people in Wales restarted from Monday 17 May. A traffic lights system, aligned with England and Scotland, is in place with countries classified as green, amber and red, depending on their rates of coronavirus.

Mandatory quarantine is in place for all people returning to the UK from countries on the amber and red lists. All people returning from overseas travel must have a PCR test. People traveling overseas must also follow the rules of the countries they plan to visit.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan said:

“I know people are looking forward to a holiday after the year we have all had, but this is the year to holiday at home and enjoy everything Wales has to offer. I would encourage people to support local businesses in particular in the tourism and hospitality sector which have been hard hit by the pandemic.

“Travelling overseas is definitely not the same as it was before the pandemic – everyone will need to take a test before they leave and when they return and some people will need to quarantine on their return to the UK.

“We’ve all worked really hard to bring coronavirus under control in Wales; we need to do everything we can to prevent coronavirus from being re-imported into Wales from travel. Our strong advice is to only travel overseas if it is essential.”

People can call 0300 303 5667 to request a vaccination certificate for urgent international travel only.

The Minister added:

“We have put a system in place to receive a certificate of vaccination status for those who need to travel urgently. There is only a very limited number of countries you can travel to without quarantining and not many countries currently ask for vaccine status as proof to travel. If you really have to travel, please check if your destination requires proof of vaccination. A certificate will take seven to ten working days to arrive so please plan ahead but again we are asking everyone to please think carefully about travelling overseas.”

The Welsh Government is working with the UK Government to enable Welsh citizens to use the NHS App to show their vaccination status. This will be available shortly.

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Notes to editors: