Chancellor Angela Markel’s Cabinet has made it possible for most vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus and previously infected individuals to avoid needing to quarantine.
Those who do not meet either requirement will be able to end their quarantine periods after as soon as five days with a negative test result.
However, this change, which was announced and went into effect on Wednesday, does not apply to those arriving from high-risk areas, such as Brazil and India.
The intent behind this move was to more easily allow people to engage in their summer travel plans.
It should be noted that entry requirements have not changed as those who were not eligible to enter under any circumstances before are still not allowed to cross the border into Germany. Who may enter without needing to meet a special exception include those holding passports from European Union and Schengen Area countries and Australia, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
That may change, however, as the European Commission, who Germany looks towards in adopting many of its COVID-19-related entry requirements, is considering a change to accept all individuals who have received the full dosage of an EU-approved vaccine, regardless of which country they are coming from.
At the moment, those approved vaccines include the ones that have been produced by AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer. However, Jens Spahn, Germany’s health minister, said that any other vaccines that are proven to reduce the infection rate may be added to his country’s list.
Within Germany, 9.6% of the country’s residents have been fully vaccinated while a third have received at least one dosage of an approved vaccine.
Those who are not fully vaccinated but have been previously infected will need to show a positive PCR test that was taken more than 28 days prior to arriving at the border to avoid quarantining.
SUGGESTED: Check our post for more updates on Germany reopening for tourism and current restrictions.