Yesterday the Government announced that 16 and 17 year olds will be offered COVID-19 vaccination following advice from the JCVI, and we encourage everyone eligible to come forward and get their jab as quickly as possible.
COVID-19 vaccines are our best defence against this virus, and have already saved more than 60,000 lives and prevented 22 million infections in England alone. In the last few weeks, the spread of COVID-19 has changed, particularly in younger age groups, and given the ongoing success of the adult vaccination programme, the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reviewed the advice for the vaccination of children and young people.
That is why the Government has accepted the expert recommendations of the JCVI, which weighed up the benefits of any vaccine against the possible, although extremely rare, side effects, and will be offering the Covid-19 vaccine to 16 and 17 year olds.
We continue to encourage everyone who is eligible to come forward for their jab as quickly as possible to protect you and your loved ones.
To view the JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 years: 4 August 2021, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jcvi-statement-august-2021-covid-19-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people-aged-12-to-17-years/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people-aged-12-to-17-years-4-august-2021. For the Health and Social Care Secretary’s comments, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-on-offering-covid-19-vaccination-to-young-people.
International travel: country listings update
Today the Government announced that arrivals from France to England will no longer need to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated, as well as making a number of other changes to simplify our traffic light system, as we continue to cautiously reopen international travel.
The Government is committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we have made through our world-beating vaccination programme. That is why the Government has announced that arrivals from France to England will no longer need to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated, and we are moving Austria, Germany Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway to the green list; India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE are moving from the red to the amber list; and Georgia, La Reunion, Mayotte and Mexico will move to the red list, coming into effect at 04:00 on Sunday 8 August.
All classification changes have been decided by ministers, informed by the latest data and analysis by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) and wider public health considerations, to help the public understand the risks to public health of travelling to different destinations. All measures announced today are designed to give travellers and the travel sector more certainty, will be kept under review, and further action may be taken to protect public health.
Since February, anyone who arrives in the UK from a red list country has been required by law to book a stay in a managed quarantine facility for 10 days. In order to ensure taxpayers are not subsidising the costs of staying in these facilities, which have gone up, the cost will increase from Thursday 12 August. Alternative payment arrangements remain available to those who genuinely cannot afford to pay and rates remain the same for children up to 12.
This latest international travel update will help to connect families, friends and businesses around the world and reopen a range of different holiday destinations for British people. For more information, including comments from the Transport and the Health and Social Care Secretaries, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/international-travel-country-listings-update.
