Vaccine passports issued in Jersey next week

Credit: ITV Channel TV

People in Jersey will be issued with Covid vaccination certificates from next week to allow for international travel.

The scheme will allow people who are fully vaccinated to travel into and off the island with reduced self-isolation and testing requirements.

Jersey's government has now confirmed more details about how the scheme will operate and what it means for arrivals into the island.

How will the scheme work?

Those who have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine will receive their so-called their 'vaccine passports' by Thursday 10 June. After that point, islanders will receive the certification within a fortnight of receiving their second dose of the vaccine.

Fully vaccinated islanders will not need to show their certification letter when travelling to the UK or entering Jersey.

Those who would like to be treated as a 'green light' arrival - with reduced isolation and testing requirements - will be asked to input their Social Security number in their pre-travel registration form before they arrive into Jersey. This means their status will be automatically verified once they enter the island.

Visitors to the island with a green or amber travel history who have received both doses of the vaccine within the Common Travel Area can gain 'green light' status by completing the pre-travel registration form and provide an approved form of certification from their country of residence.

The news comes exactly one week ahead of changes at the border which will make it easier to visit some countries. A new map of countries, rated red, amber or green, will take effect from 28 May.

An accidentally published version, which has since been withdrawn by the government, shows Portugal is among the countries to be rated green. Those who've had two vaccinations will not need to isolate on return to Jersey if they visit green or amber countries, though they will still need to be tested on arrival. Unvaccinated travellers will isolate pending an arrival test from green countries, with a follow up test on day eight. Those from amber and red countries will be tested on arrival, on day five and again on day ten. Those arriving from amber countries must isolate until their day five result, and red until their day ten result.

Details of how to obtain vaccination certificates will be revealed next week but ITV News understands that people from Jersey returning to the island will simply enter their JY number into the existing online travel declaration to prove they've been fully vaccinated, but will be issued with an encrypted certificate for use when travelling elsewhere.

Arrivals into Jersey from the UK will be able to show their NHS-issued vaccination certificate or the NHS app on arrival as their proof of vaccination.

The civil servant in charge of the policy says allowing more travel is about balancing risks.

The island's most senior medic says the situation is very different to last summer because of the levels of vaccinated travellers and islanders.