UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock gave a ray of hope of holidaymakers that summer holidays may go ahead after he suggested that they “may well” be able to happen this summer and that “the door is not shut”.
The Health Secretary was speaking to TV presenters Holly and Phil on ITV’s This Morning programme. He said “the door is not shut” on international travel and suggested whether of not international travel does resume will depend on evidence about vaccine effectiveness on variants.
Mr Hancock said the “biggest problem the UK faces” is from variants.
When asked if there was still a chance foreign holidays could happen this summer, Mr Hancock said: “There may well be, I wouldn’t rule that out. The door is not shut, it’s just too early to say, but what we can say with confidence is that the unlocking home is on track.”
The Health Minister expressed his sympathy for the stricken travel industry, saying: “We all want to get that going as soon as possible but the most important thing is to protect the recovery here at home, so people can see their loved ones and don’t have to go into lockdown again.
“We may get to a position where if you’ve had your jab, then other countries will say ‘you’ve got to have the jab to come in’. And so we’ll make sure everybody can do that.”
He also confirmed that the government is looking at whether a booster vaccine dose will be needed in the Autumn.
Pressed on whether current vaccines work against the South African and Brazilian variants, Mr Hancock said the picture should become clearer “over the next few weeks”.
“We’re not yet sure,” he said, “but we’re doing the science in Porton Down, and watching very closely, and if that all goes well, then we haven’t got a problem and then we’ll be much more relaxed about international travel. We will know more over the next few weeks.”
