Yahoo Finance Covid UK news: Global travel to restart later than hoped as vaccine tested in people with low immunity
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A government minister has told MPs the hoped-for restart of international travel will not take place 17 May.
At a meeting of the Transport Select Committee, Robert Courts, the aviation minister, said: “We have laid out how we are going to make progress over the course of the next month, with the report to the prime minister on 12 April, and then looking towards travel at some point after 17 May.”
The government’s roadmap says it “will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May”. Many travel firms had planned to restart operations on that day.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £1.6bn funding boost for the vaccine rollout in his budget
(Yui Mok/PA)Meanwhile, a new study is to investigate the immune response to Covid-19 vaccinations in patients with certain immunosuppressed conditions, including cancer.
People with cancer, inflammatory arthritis, diseases of the kidney or liver or who are having a stem cell transplant may be at increased risk of the more severe complications of Covid-19 infection.
These underlying medical conditions and the treatment that such patients receive as part of their care may weaken the immune system, making vaccines particularly welcome for these groups.
However, researchers say evidence suggests people with these conditions may not obtain optimal protection from established vaccines.
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