Fast-track lanes for travelers who have been completely vaccinated will be trialed
Two of the world’s leading airlines will test fast-track lanes for fully-vaccinated customers at Heathrow Airport.
Underneath the project, travelers on four routes would be able to submit their immunization information prior to boarding.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are conducting the trial as the aviation industry pushes for visa-free travel to the UK from countries on the lower-risk amber list.
In the week, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is supposed to unveil such a plan.
Travelers who have been completely immunized and flying to Heathrow from Athens, Los Angeles, Montego Bay, or New York will be able to produce confirmation for their vaccination condition during the trial, which begins this weekend.
Individuals participating in the study would still be obliged to observe all of the government’s traffic light procedures, including booking all mandatory tests and quarantine if they arrive from a nation on the amber list.
At the UK border, participants will have access to a special departures path.
The study aims to “reassure” the government by allowing airlines and airports to monitor immunization status away from the border, alleviating the load on UK immigration halls.
The NHS app, CDC card, US state-level electronic certification, and EU digital Covid certificate are among the globally recognized vaccination credentials that will be accepted in the trial.
The move comes only days after the UK government declared that effective July 19, most lockdown restrictions in England might be lifted.
Mr. Shapps will brief MPs on international travel and remove “the need for fully-vaccinated visitors to isolate when they return from an amber list country,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid said earlier this week.
But, as the number of cases in the UK continues to climb, health professionals had stated because no vaccination is 100% successful.
According to John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow Airport, in an interview with BBC News, the primary barrier to those who have been fully vaccinated traveling is demonstrating to the government that they can document that they have already got the vaccination.
According to a report released by the World Health Organization last week, global prevalence increased slightly while the rate of new deaths declined, with over 2.6 million new cases and a little under 54 000 new confirmed deaths. That would be the lowest weekly death rate starting in early October 2020.
