Double jabs will be “a liberator” for people wanting to travel abroad this summer, Boris Johnson has said – as he announced details of the government’s plan will be revealed in the “next few days”.
The prime minister would not confirm when a policy allowing those who have received two vaccine doses to visit amber list countries – without having to quarantine on their return – would come in to force.
However, he did say he was “very confident” that it would “enable people to travel”, before warning that going abroad would not be “completely hassle free”.
During a visit to a Nissan plant in Sunderland, the prime minister told reporters: “I am very confident that the double jabs will be a liberator and they will enable people to travel.
“We’ll be setting out a lot more about the detail of that in the course of July and in the course of the next few days – about how we see it working.
“But there is no doubt at all that once you have got the two jabs you are in a much better position.
“Obviously, as everybody can see, we will be going forward in the autumn with an extra vaccination programme, a booster programme for the more vulnerable just to give us that extra insulation, that extra security that we need.
“But certainly, to answer your point, everybody who is frustrated about travel over the summer – double jabs will be a liberator.”
He added: “But I want to repeat the point that I have made before, I hope people will forgive me if I say that obviously I want travel to be possible, but I’ve got to stress that this year will not be like every other year because of the difficulties with COVID.
“People shouldn’t expect that it will be completely hassle free.”