British citizens who want to travel abroad may need to get a booster dose of COVID-19 their vaccination series before they depart the nation. This rule may also soon apply to international guests who want to enter Britain.
According to Care Minister Gillian Keegan, the nation only requires that citizens complete the vaccination series. However, the government may consider a requirement for a booster shot amid an ongoing resurgence and proliferation of virus variants.
Currently, British citizens who want a booster dose must wait five months between completing the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the two-dose series of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Health ministry officials may also institute an expiration date for the validity of the vaccinations. Croatia, Austria and Switzerland have already issued maximum immunity expiration dates of 12 months.
Over the past week, Britain recorded an average of 47,000 new infections of COVID-19 cases each day. This represents an 18% increase from the previous week.
On average, 135 Britain residents died of COVID-19 each day. The 16% increase in the death rate sounded alarms among epidemiologists and the medical community and they are pressuring to reintroduce local Covid measures and restrictions.
In total, more than 139,000 residents of Britain have died of COVID-19. Of all European countries, only Russia has recorded more deaths than Britain.