Boris Johnson press conference: Brits WILL need booster jab to travel abroad, PM hints
BRITS will need a need booster jab to travel abroad in future, Boris Johnson hinted today.
The PM said there are plans underway to make having a third vaccine part of the Covid travel pass, which gives people the green light to go abroad.
He said at today’s press conference that becoming “fully vaccinated” will likely become having three jabs.
At the moment boosters are only available for the other 50s and the most vulnerable, but they will soon be rolled out to over 40s.
Mr Johnson said today: “I think that we will be making plans to add the booster to the NHS Covid travel pass.
“But again, I think what the general lesson is, if anybody wants to travel, you can see that getting fully vaccinated with a booster is going to be something that will – on the whole – make your life easier in all kinds of ways including for foreign travel.
“So I would just say, you know, if you’re thinking about that, then this is yet another reason to get it done.”
At the press conference this afternoon, the PM:
- Warned Brits they must get their third dose of the vaccine or would risk more restrictions on their daily life
- Said there was no need to go to Plan B just yet and he saw “nothing in the data” to change tack
- And Chris Whitty warned mums to be they must get jabbed – as 98 per cent of pregnant women in intensive care are unvaccinated
- Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 17 will now also be able to come forward for their second coronavirus vaccine.
The PM today urged Brits to get their coronavirus boosters as soon as they are eligible.
It was earlier today announced that Covid vaccines would be rolled out to the over 40s in order to best a winter wave of the bug.
Addressing the nation this afternoon, Mr Johnson said: “If we want to control the epidemic in the UK then we must all get vaccinated as soon as we are eligible.
“We are making second jabs available for 16-17 year-olds and boosters available to all those 40-49, six months after their first dose.
“Over time, the protection from two jabs starts to wane, but the third jab boosts protection up to 90 per cent.
“Many more people who are eligible have not yet come forward, if you are one of those people please go and get that third jab.
“It would be a tragedy if people who have done the right thing and got double vaccinated got seriously ill or lost their lives by not getting their booster.”
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Last week the Health Sec Sajid Javid confirmed that ministers will look at updating the definition of fully vaccinated to include booster jabs.
The Health Secretary said the waning effectiveness of the vaccine over time means the change may be needed “in due course”.
He said: “In due course we will have to look at what constitutes vaccination. It’s something we have to keep under review.”
His remarks come after it emerged Brits who fail to get the third Covid jab may face renewed travel restrictions.
Ministers are planning to reintroduce quarantine and testing for those people in a bid to protect the UK against new Covid strains.
Under the new plans, travellers would not be able to use proof of a negative Covid test to go abroad.
Instead, they would only be able to travel with proof of the booster shot.