23 June 2021
Following recommendations from the Scientific and Technical Advisory Cell (STAC) and in consultation with Public Health, Ministers have agreed to relax the isolation policy for fully vaccinated direct contacts, and to extend the COVID Status Certification scheme to those who have been fully vaccinated outside the Common Travel Area (CTA).
Isolation period
A person will be classified as fully vaccinated once two weeks has passed since their second dose. The implementation of the following policy for fully vaccinated individuals will come into effect immediately. This means anyone in isolation who is fully vaccinated can leave isolation after their first negative result.
- a reduction in the isolation period for fully vaccinated direct contacts identified on-Island, with isolation until a day 0 negative test result, and further testing on day 5 and 10.
- fully vaccinated passengers identified as direct contacts while travelling to Jersey will no longer be required to isolate, but must be tested on day 0, 5 and 10.
- fully vaccinated healthcare workers identified as direct contacts must isolate until a day 0 negative test result and undergo daily PCR testing if returning to work in frontline health and community care settings.
- fully vaccinated individuals will not need to isolate if they are living in a household with someone who has tested positive with COVID-19.
Immediate isolation is required if any fully vaccinated direct contact develops symptoms. They would need to call the helpline to arrange a PCR test and isolate until a negative result.
Those identified as a direct contact who are not vaccinated, or who have only received one dose of the vaccine, are required to follow the current policy by completing 10 days of isolation and being tested on day 0, 5 and 10.
Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Richard Renouf, said: "Contact tracing, testing and isolation remain an important part of reducing the spread and threat of COVID-19, and we need to maintain these requirements. However, with increasing vaccination coverage in the island Island, and 59% of adults aged 18 and over now fully vaccinated, we need to develop a proportionate response for fully vaccinated people who have been identified as direct contacts.
"STAC has recommended to Ministers that the period of isolation could be reduced until the result of a negative test for non-travel related direct contacts, and that the isolation requirement should be removed for fully vaccinated passengers identified as direct contacts while travelling to Jersey.
"I'm aware of the negative impact that isolation is having on some Islanders, by detrimentally affecting their mental and physical wellbeing, so I welcome these decisions for fully vaccinated individuals. As our vaccination programme continues, we can provide more freedoms to those who have received full protection against serious illness from the virus. I believe this new policy will be welcome news to many Islanders.
"Ministers have asked STAC to urgently review the evidence on children isolating when identified as a direct contact. I am acutely aware of the pressures on children and young people who are currently in isolation, but also of the rates of infection in children and young people generally. It is a matter that Ministers and Government officers are urgently progressing.
"I would like to thank everyone who has attended for their COVID vaccination appointments. As this new policy sets out, the protection afforded by vaccination is an incredibly important factor for both health prevention and for ensuring we can safely maintain our freedoms."
Children
On the request of Ministers, STAC is reviewing the evidence and policy on isolation for children and young people under the age of 18 who have been identified as direct contacts. Ministers will make an announcement on the isolation requirement for children in the coming days.
COVID Status Certification
Ministers have agreed to allow fully vaccinated passengers who have received their COVID vaccine outside the Common Travel Area (CTA) to benefit from Jersey's COVID Status Certification scheme.
From 00:01 on Tuesday 29 June, fully vaccinated passengers arriving in Jersey, who have received a complete course of an MHRA approved COVID-19 vaccine anywhere in the world at least 2 weeks before arriving, will be able to enter Jersey:
- with a Green Light status if they have a Green or Amber travel history. This means a day 0 test on arrival and no isolation requirement.
- as a Green arrival if they have a Red travel history. This means a day 0 test on arrival with isolation until a first negative test result, and further testing on day 5 and 10.
Ministers have also confirmed that the above decision will include people who have received their doses of MHRA-approved vaccines in two different places. The pre-travel registration form will be amended to allow evidence of vaccination to be submitted from more than one jurisdiction.
Deputy Chief Minister, Senator Lyndon Farnham, said: "This is welcome news. We must ensure that we protect civil liberties and personal freedoms while at the same time maintaining Islanders' health and wellbeing.
"It is no longer practical or proportionate to enforce isolation on fully vaccinated people, given the diminished level of risk. Islanders' cooperation has played a major part in reaching this position and we are now all learning to live with Covid."
Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, said: "Our excellent COVID status Certification scheme is being rolled out successfully and at pace. Ministers made the commitment to Islanders that everyone who received a second dose of the vaccine on or before 28 May would receive their COVID Status Certificate in the post in early June. We have maintained this commitment and nearly 52,000 certifications have now been issued, so Islanders can prove they have been double vaccinated.
"It is a positive step forward that we are now able to extend this reduction in testing and isolation requirements to those who have been fully vaccinated with an MHRA-approved vaccine outside the CTA. I know this will be welcome news to many Islanders who have fully vaccinated friends or relatives living abroad who wish to visit Jersey this summer.
"Islanders who have been fully vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine in Jersey should expect to receive their COVID Status Certification around two weeks after their second dose of the vaccine."
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