A holiday abroad may not be possible for UK residents until all adults in the country have been vaccinated, a government official said on Wednesday, raising questions about how the tourism industry can handle such restrictions, and the hope of many hoping to be relatively successful through the deployment of vaccines in Britain, they can enjoy foreign travel this summer.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said on British television that international travel depends on ‘everyone who has their vaccinations’ in Britain, and that restrictions may remain in place as long as other countries have not made significant progress with vaccinations.
“We will have to wait until other countries catch up to do the broad international unlocking,” he said. Shapps said.
As of Wednesday, Britain has administered more than 12.5 million doses of vaccines, equivalent to about 18 percent of its population, one of the highest prices in the world. At the current rate, the country is on track to give the first ingestion of a two-dose coronavirus vaccine to its entire population by the end of June.
Authorities have reported a sharp drop in the number of infections over the past few days, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a possible easing of restrictions this month.
But on Wednesday, Mr. Shapps cautiously insisted on the travel plans for this year and advised people not to holiday within Britain or abroad. “I’m afraid I’ll not be able to give a definite ‘will there or’ not the opportunity to go on holiday,” he told Sky News.
Shapps’ warning comes a day after authorities announced new travel restrictions, including jail terms of up to ten years for anyone traveling to Britain and lying where they were.
Mr. Shapps called the measures, including the prison sentence, ‘appropriate’. Under other restrictions, which come into effect on Monday, British residents arriving in England from more than thirty countries where the coronavirus variant is widespread will have to pay up to $ 1,750 pounds ($ 2,410) for a ten-day hotel room guarantee issued by the government is managed.
Britain has reported 114,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the world’s fifth highest death toll.
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