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Passengers check their flights at a departure information board at Frankfurt International Airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on Dec. 21, 2020. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
England will require testing from all inbound travelers as France has warned that its restrictions on travelers from the U.K. will remain in place for the foreseeable future. This comes as a U.K. minister raised doubt about the efficacy of vaccines against the new, potent South African variant of the virus.
Travelers into the U.K., including the country’s citizens, will have to submit a coronavirus test taken in the three days before their departure before they are allowed into the country.
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to provide protection against the new highly contagious U.K. and South African variants, according to a preliminary study.
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Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Graeme Jennings/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said Friday that states working slowly through their Covid-19 vaccine allocations should make more people eligible for vaccination.
“A number of the states have about 30 to 35% utilization of the existing vaccine supplies,” Dr. Hahn said. “So we’re encouraging those states to broaden the criteria for administration.”
His comments came on a reporter briefing call held by the Alliance for Health Policy, a health policy not-for-profit.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices laid out guidelines for who should get the vaccine first, it is up to each state how to administer its own vaccination program.