British travelers may need three vaccination doses if they want to travel next year, according to the U.K’s Health Minister.
Britain’s Care Minister Gillian Keegan said the government considers people who’ve had two vaccinations as fully vaccinated, but that will “evolve over time.”
The Minister said, “The advice at the moment is the double jabbed vaccination but of course that will evolve over time as the third dose comes in.
“It’s two doses for now but I’m sure the vaccine passport concept will evolve and there will be ‘if you’ve had your booster etc’ because it’s not probably going to be good for next summer.”
This also hints that travelers entering the U.K may need a booster jab from 2022. Britain has now decreased the waiting time for booster jabs from 6 months to 5 months.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the time between jabs is an “extremely important point” and stressed the need to “keep going as fast as possible” to deliver booster jabs.
The news comes as various nations are now setting expiry dates on being fully vaccinated. Croatia was the first nation to set a maximum validity for the COVID-19 certificate.
And Austria and Switzerland have followed suit. The Swiss authorities only consider someone as fully vaccinated 12 months after their final vaccination dose.
As a result, many fully vaccinated British and American travelers will likely need a booster jab to enter Switzerland from early 2022.
The Current Travel Rules
The current U.K travel rules state anyone who has received two vaccination doses is exempt from quarantine when returning to the U.K.
From October 24th, travelers will no longer need to take a PCR test two days after arrival. Instead, British travelers can take a lateral flow test.
And since October 4th, fully vaccinated travelers entering the U.K from any non-red list country no longer have to take a COVID-19 test before setting off.
The list applies to people vaccinated from the United States, the E.U, and various other nations. These include Brazil, Hong Kong, Turkey, South Africa, and Pakistan.
If British travelers are unvaccinated and over 18, they will have to self-isolate upon returning 10 days after arriving in the United Kingdom.
Unvaccinated travelers need to take a PCR or an antigen test 3 days before traveling to the United Kingdom. They’ll also need to take a test on or before day two and after day eight during their self-isolation.
At the moment, the British government has no plans to change the definition of fully vaccinated. But health ministers are advising booster jabs to build immunity levels as case levels rise in the U.K.
The Current COVID-19 Situation In The U.K
The United Kingdom dropped all COVID-19 restrictions in July following a rapid vaccination rollout. That includes a drop on the mask mandate, removal of social distancing, and removal of limits on gatherings.
Cases remained stagnant in the U.K for the following two months. However, cases have started to rise in the U.K in recent weeks. It now has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 worldwide, but the government has refused to reinstate any restrictions.
The current 7-day case average in the United Kingdom is 47,209. Across the four nations within the U.K 81.7% to 86.7% were fully vaccinated, and 92.7% to 94.1% had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
There are growing signs travelers will need a third vaccine dose in 2022 if they want to avoid travel restrictions.
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Christian
Monday 25th of October 2021
All things considered, having an expiration date on a vaccine injection makes a lot of sense considering the fact that vaccine effectiveness decrease from 30% to quasi 0% after 6 months. And if somebody who took two shots and didn't die from it, he can in theory take a third shot. The question is how many shots can he/she take in the future under similar circumstances?
garrytravel
Sunday 24th of October 2021
The pro-vax are definitely starting to win the argument if you look at the data in European heavily vaxed countries versus not so. The pass is meant to be a cudgel to get to 80% plus coverage, which seems to blunt the spike. After 5 months these vaccines are less than 50% effective to prevent spread. UK cannot go back and choose the timeline where they rely on natural immunity alone, just as they cannot go back to a timeline where they all are eating healthy, thin, and exercising. They are locked in on this pathogenic destiny no matter where it takes them.
Adam
Sunday 24th of October 2021
One year ago if you said gov won't allow you to buy food, go to work or even work remotely without covid pass people would call it conspiracy theory. Today it's perfectly normal.
islamujeres
Sunday 24th of October 2021
ITALY was the first to do the green pass . in the beginning it had a valididty of 9 months, then extended to 12 months. without green pass, from 15th october , you can't work or go in train, air, sea, long distance bus, enter school, university, rstaurant,gym etc etc the most absurd, you can't work remote (smart working)!! you need the green pass to work from your home!! so it is uncorrect to say you need 3 dosis. becuase if i vax for the first time in 2022, i will be able to fly. don't need the 3rd. but after 12 months the pass expires. this is why a lot of people in italy, postponed the vax from may june, to september october, to have it fully valid for next summer 2022 ( in summer 2021 was't necessary the pass)
welcome to the n ew orld
Christian
Sunday 24th of October 2021
Funny how the waxx fascists are so outspoken about taking two shots, but there is complete silence about the expiration date and the need to keep taking vaccines every 6 months to keep the vaccine passport up to date. If people think all they need is to take two vaccines and everything will be dandy, they are very mistaken.