Around 80% of travellers arriving at Iceland’s Keflavík International Airport now present certificates of vaccination against COVID-19 or antibody certificates for the disease. The two groups are currently required to undergo a single COVID-19 test upon arrival to the country, but Health Minister Svandís Svavarsdóttir stated they will no longer be required to do so from June 15. Mbl.is reported first.
“As has been the case, vaccinated people and those who present a certificate of previous infection are exempt from quarantine upon arrival in the country. This group is growing steadily and now accounts for about 80% of all arriving passengers at Keflavík Airport,” Svandís stated in an oral report on the status of vaccinations and infection prevention in the Icelandic Parliament yesterday. “The aim is to stop taking samples from this group from mid-June.”
Certificates to Be Examined Before Boarding
The Minister of Health also stated that Transport Minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson would issue regulations requiring flight operators to examine passengers’ certificates before boarding. “This could significantly reduce the load and [shorten] processing speed at Keflavík Airport,” Svandís stated. COVID-19 related certificates will be issued in a co-ordinated fashion within the EEA countries and Switzerland, Svandís added. “It’s expected that these certificates will be in use from July 1 and Iceland is already technically prepared to take part in a pilot project that will begin in the next few days.”
A May 17 memorandum from the Chief Epidemiologist stated that from April 1, 2021, the percentage of vaccinated travellers that tested positive for COVID-19 was 0.08% and those with antibody certificates was 0.2%. It is likely those figures are lower now as the incidence rate at the border has dropped since.
