Greece lifts week-long quarantine for vaccinated Israeli tourists

ATHENS, March 25 (Reuters) - Greece on Thursday lifted a one-week quarantine rule for Israeli travellers who are vaccinated against COVID-19 and test negative, the civil aviation authority said.

Israeli travellers who show a certificate proving that their inoculation was completed two weeks ago and a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to travel to Greece will not need to quarantine for a week, the Greek civil aviation authority said in an advisory on Thursday.

The new rule will be in force until April 5, it said.

Under current rules, all foreigners arriving in Greece should test negative and quarantine for seven days. For passengers from Britain and the United Arab Emirates, a second negative test is required before they exit the one-week quarantine.

Greece plans to open its tourism sector, a key growth driver for the economy, to people who are vaccinated against COVID-19, have antibodies or test negative from May.

Israel has administered two doses of COVID-19 vaccine to more than half its population, the health minister said on Thursday, a world-beating rollout that has helped the country emerge from pandemic closures.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Nick Macfie)