LONDON – Frustrated by slow and uncertain vaccinations around the world, some of the nine million Americans living abroad come home to get their Covid-19 shots.
For many, the risks of a long journey home are worth the reward of a vaccine that provides protection and peace of mind. But the journey also comes with the anxiety and moral ambiguity of leaving behind friends, colleagues and even spouses who may not have access to a shot for months because they do not have a passport of the richest country in the world.
“I’ve definitely seen people talk about tourism,” said Chloe Zeitounian, a 32-year-old American actor in London who visited the United States earlier this month. “That’s basically what I did.”
The US and UK are roughly equal in terms of vaccination rates, but recent supply disruptions have slowed Britain’s rollout for younger people. The country also relies heavily on a survey developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca PLC. Regulators here have not allowed people under the age of thirty to receive it due to a possible connection with rare but potentially serious blood clots. Me. Zeitounian avoids the one not distributed in the US
When she stood in a queue at a New Orleans convention center and learned that it was a dose of two-syringe vaccine from Moderna Inc. offering, she calls her British husband in London. “Is that what I’m doing right?” it me. Zeitounian, who was in the US, asked to apply for a visa. She plans to get her second dose on an American business trip later this year, unless she first gets it in Britain.