Iceland Is Now Welcoming Vaccinated Tourists

Iceland has reopened to visitors who have received COVID-19 vaccinations, including Americans and Canadians. 

Under the new entry requirements effective March 18, those who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus, as well as those who have been infected in the past, can enter Iceland without any coronavirus restrictions, like testing and quarantine.

U.S. Citizens will officially be permitted to enter the country with proof of full vaccination, certified for use by the European medical agency such as AstraZeneca, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), Moderna, or Pfizer.

Visitors can present an official paper or electronic vaccine certificate, which must include first name and last name; date of birth; where and when vaccinations were performed; issuer of the certificate (supervising clinician/administering center), with signature and stamp if the International Certificate of Vaccination; vaccine administered; and manufacturer and batch/lot number of vaccine.

Iceland removed a previous requirement that a nationality and passport number be listed, which do not appear on the CDC card.

Visitors who were previously infected with COVID-19 will also be able to enter Iceland without a requirement to quarantine. Acceptable documentation there includes a positive PCR test result that’s older than 14 days or a positive antibody test. Note that rapid tests are not accepted.

Iceland, which has been closed to Americans for a year, saw tourist numbers plummet by 75% last year to just under half a million.

“The world has been through a lot in the past twelve months, and we are all hoping for a slow and safe return to normalcy. This also includes the resumption of the opportunity to travel, which is valuable to culture, trade, and enterprise. The decision to apply border exemptions for vaccinated individuals to countries outside the EU/EEA area is a logical extension of our current policy,” the Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir said.

Previously, the only visitors allowed entry into Iceland were European Union/European Economic Area citizens with a negative PCR test prior to their departure to the country, followed by a second negative test at the border, quarantine for five days, and then test negative a third time before being permitted to venture out from their hotel.

“Our experience and data so far indicate very strongly that there is very little risk of infection stemming from individuals who have acquired immunity against the disease, either by vaccination or by prior infection,” Chief Epidemiologist Thórólfur Gudnason said.