Boris Johnson has said there was a “real opportunity to open up travel” this summer for those who have two doses of the coronavirus jab.
Under the current traffic light system for travel, people returning to the UK from green list destinations are not required to self-isolate, but there are currently no viable major tourist destinations in that tier.
Travellers arriving from amber list countries must quarantine at home for 10 days, while those entering the UK from red list destinations have to isolate in government-run hotels.
Asked about Angela Merkel saying the Delta variant meant there should be more restrictions on British travellers going abroad, the prime minister said: “I think that the real opportunity we all have now is to open up travel through the double jab.
“If you look at it we’ve got more than 60% of our population have now had two jabs, I think 83% have had one jab, we’re really getting through it now.
“The crucial thing is come forward and get your second jab.”
On a visit to New Normandy Barracks in Aldershot, he said: “I’m not going to claim that this summer, for travel purposes, is going to be like any other summer. I don’t want to cast a pall over things but, as I said the other day, it will be different.”
It comes as Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca and Malta could be added to the travel green list.
Under the current traffic light system for travel, people returning to the UK from green list destinations are not required to self-isolate, but there are currently no viable major tourist destinations in that tier.
Travellers arriving from amber list countries must quarantine at home for 10 days, while those entering the UK from red list destinations have to isolate in government-run hotels.
Asked about Angela Merkel saying the Delta variant meant there should be more restrictions on British travellers going abroad, the prime minister said: “I think that the real opportunity we all have now is to open up travel through the double jab.
“If you look at it we’ve got more than 60% of our population have now had two jabs, I think 83% have had one jab, we’re really getting through it now.
“The crucial thing is come forward and get your second jab.”
On a visit to New Normandy Barracks in Aldershot, he said: “I’m not going to claim that this summer, for travel purposes, is going to be like any other summer. I don’t want to cast a pall over things but, as I said the other day, it will be different.”
It comes as Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca and Malta could be added to the travel green list.
