Officials in the United Kingdom are discussing whether to require traveling Brits to follow up being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with a booster shot, once those become available on a mass level, in order to avoid a required quarantine.
Currently, Brits who are fully vaccinated and leave the U.K. for “amber” countries are allowed to return without participating in quarantine while those who are not fully vaccinated and coming from those countries must isolate for 10 days.
However, this is not an immediate concern. For one thing, it is believed that this booster shot may not be necessary until six months after an individual has been fully vaccinated. For another, the World Health Organization wants to limit how many booster shots are implemented throughout the world until the poorer countries can vaccinate at least 10% of their populations. As a result of this view, in early August, the WHO called for booster shots to not be administered until at least October.
It should also be noted that 16- and 17-year-olds in England, for the most part, will not even be able to receive their first injections until Monday. Plus, many scientists do not view booster shots as being necessary, so more discussion will likely need to take place as far as that is concerned.
Nevertheless, ministers have already commenced discussing providing booster shots to vulnerable groups in September. This proposed proclamation, however, will be dependent on the advice that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation ultimately provides those responsible for making these decisions.
Regardless, these developments are something that British travelers should keep in mind for their future plans as officials continue to discuss implementing a booster requirement to avoid quarantine.
With this said, those who are currently traveling home from “amber” countries should make sure to follow the “amber list rules,” which include taking COVID-19 tests.
As of Monday, 77% of British adults are fully vaccinated while an additional 13% are partially vaccinated. The number of first doses being administered on a daily basis within the U.K. is 40,000 while the corresponding figure for second doses is 160,000.