This article is reviewed several times a week by Wego’s editorial team to ensure that the content is up to date & accurate.

Updated February 2022

In light of various factors such as the uneven distribution of vaccines, episodic COVID flare-ups, and the emergence of Omicron, determining where to travel during COVID in 2022 can inevitably get quite challenging. As such, we’ve compiled a series of lists that have been put together by the EU, the UK and other countries around the world.

In so doing, we hope to assist you in drawing some reasonable conclusions as to which destinations are deemed safe. We’ll lightly touch upon the criteria and methodology being employed in determining the following countries’ safeness in terms of COVID-19 containment and transmission. For your convenience, we’ve also provided dedicated pages for Covid Test For Travel In 2022 (All Countries) and Quarantine Guidelines For Travel In 2022 (All Countries).

The following lists are subject to updates in accordance with the ongoing review by the Council of the EU and by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

COVID-19 safe countries’ criteria

The European Union

Following the current health situation and coronavirus resurgence, the focus has shifted more towards providing an overview per country based on

• epidemiological data, and
• national corona safety and travel measures such as quarantine and testing requirements

EU/EEA Member States are classified according to an indicator that is based on the 14-day notification rate, weighted by the vaccine uptake of the region.

The formula for the indicator is as follows:

Weighted rate = (C+C*(100-V)/100)/2

Where C is the 14-day case notification rate in the specific region and V is the vaccine uptake in the region.

Based on the above formula, EU member countries are classified as pictured below:

• Green, if the weighted rate is less than 40;
• Orange, if the weighted rate is less than 100 but 40 or more;
• Red, if the weighted rate is less than 300 but 100 or more;
• Dark red, if the weighted rate is 300 or more;
• Dark grey, if the testing rate is 600 or less;
• Grey, if insufficient data is available.

The map will also provide travellers with general information as to the risk level at their destination. Together with the information made available on the ‘Re-open EU’ web platform, travellers should be able to tell whether they can expect to be subject to certain measures if they travel to another region in the EU.

The United Kingdom

The UK now categorizes countries into red and non-red list countries to determine where UK residents are allowed to travel. Conversely, the categorization system also dictates which countries’ travellers are allowed to visit the UK.

Green list from around the world

The European Union

EU countries have agreed upon a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A color code system for the classifications of regions – green, orange, red, dark red, and grey – based on the epidemiological situation there has been implemented.

EU countries have also agreed on common criteria that they should apply when deciding whether to introduce travel restrictions, a common approach for travellers from ‘red areas’ (testing and self-quarantine), as well as on providing more clear and timely information to the public.

This was done on the basis of a set of principles and objective criteria including

• not more than 75 new COVID-19 cases per 100 000 inhabitants over the last 14 days
• a stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days
• more than 300 tests per 100 000 inhabitants conducted over the previous seven days, if the data is available to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
• not more than 4% positive tests among all COVID-19 tests carried out in the previous seven days, if the data is available to the ECDC
• the nature of the virus present in a country, in particular whether variants of interest or concern have been detected
• the country’s overall response to COVID-19, taking into account available information, including on aspects such as surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting, as well as the reliability of the information and, if needed, the total average score for International Health Regulations (IHR)

Additionally, all 27 members of the EU are recommended to lift border restrictions for the following epidemiologically safe third country list.

• Bahrain
• Chile
• China (subject to confirmation of reciprocity)
• Colombia
• Indonesia
• Kuwait
• New Zealand
• Qatar
• Peru
• Rwanda
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• United Arab Emirates
• Uruguay

Travel restrictions should also be gradually lifted for the two special administrative regions of China:

• Hong Kong
• Macao

Under the category of entities and territorial authorities that are not recognized as states by at least one member state, travel restrictions for Taiwan should also be gradually lifted.

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The United Kingdom

The UK government has categorized countries into red and non-red list countries. As such, all fully vaccinated travellers coming in from countries not on the red list will not be required to serve quarantine nor take a pre or post-arrival test.

As of now, no countries are included on the UK’s red list.

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Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi’s latest green list of countries are as follows:

• Albania
• Algeria
• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bahrain
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Burma
• Cambodia
• Canada
• China
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong Kong (SAR)
• Hungary
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Latvia
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Netherlands
• Morocco
• Norway
• Oman
• Papua New Guinea
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Republic of Ireland
• Romania
• Saudi Arabia
• Serbia
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Syria
• Seychelles
• Taiwan, Province of China
• Tajikistan
• Thailand
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Yemen
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• United States of America
• Uzbekistan

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Qatar

The State of Qatar has categorized 143 countries into its green list. Some of the countries are as follows:

• The Cook Islands
• Honduras
• Japan
• New Zealand
• Singapore

For the full listing of countries, please do refer to our Qatar green list article.

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Countries with higher vaccination rates

The vaccine drives being rolled out worldwide have resulted in some countries achieving satisfactory rates of vaccination. Needless to say, a high number of vaccinated means that a country is inching ever closer to assuming a semblance of normalcy. The following are countries with the highest rates of vaccination as of 17 January 2022.

• Gibraltar, 333 doses administered per hundred people
• Cuba, 307 doses administered per hundred people
• Chile, 247 doses administered per hundred people
• Singapore, 239 doses administered per hundred people
• United Arab Emirates, 239 doses administered per hundred people
• Malta, 239 doses administered per hundred people
• Guernsey, 232 doses administered per hundred people
• South Korea, 228 doses administered per hundred people
• Denmark, 226 doses administered per hundred people
• Brunei, 222 doses administered per hundred people
• Portugal, 221 doses administered per hundred people
• Italy, 219 doses administered per hundred people
• Jersey, 218 doses administered per hundred people
• Isle of Man, 218 doses administered per hundred people
• Uruguay, 217 doses administered per hundred people
• Iceland, 216 doses administered per hundred people
• Faroe Islands, 211 doses administered per hundred people
• Mainland China, 211 administered per hundred people
• Belgium, 211 administered per hundred people
• Ireland, 211 doses administered per hundred people

Should you book your summer 2022 holiday now?

Due to the new normal and everything it entails, numerous hotels and airlines are offering greater flexibility than ever before to entice potential customers.

Depending on the policy of individual hotels and airlines, this greater flexibility usually translates to free cancellation of both planes and hotels up until typically a few days before your reservation date. Although such arrangements may cost a bit more than your standard, non-refundable bookings, the extra price is outweighed by the fact that securing your ticket and accommodations early will always yield you the best available rates.

Needless to say, planning early for your 2022 summer vacation will grant you peace of mind along with all the advantages otherwise unavailable through late bookings.

Check out the Wego website or download the Wego app for all your travel needs right at your fingertips.

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