Pfizer’s Covid vaccine approved for roll out next week, providing a lifeline to the travel industry. The UK has approved the coronavirus vaccine for widespread use, with immunisations beginning within days
Shon Alam, Founder of foreign exchange service Bidwedge, comments on the impact this will have on the travel industry and British travelLers.
The Department of Health and Social Care officials made the announcement this morning, making the UK the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for widespread use.
The UK has already ordered 40m doses of the jab, which offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19. This is enough to vaccinate 20m people, and will see immunisations for 800,000 vulnerable people commence next week.
The travel sector is one particular industry that has felt the full force of the pandemic, and was effectively ground to a halt earlier this year. While news of the efficacy of several vaccines over the past few weeks provided the industry with a glimmer of hope, this morning’s announcement provides certainty that the travel sector will be able to reopen very soon, and return to some semblance of normality.
Of course, this will also be welcome news for British holidaymakers, who have eagerly been awaiting to make up for lost time and jet off on their next holiday.
Shon Alam, Founder of currency exchange platform, Bidwegde, comments on the impact this announcement will have on the travel industry, and what this means for British travellers:
“This morning’s announcement is undoubtedly the biggest news to impact the travel industry since the start of this pandemic. Over the past few weeks, the news of successful vaccine trials were already boosting confidence that the travel sector is recovering, shown by the rise in stock prices of EasyJet, and the owner of British Airways, IAG.
Now, the announcement that the British public can begin receiving immunizations within a matter of days, will absolutely provide a huge surge of confidence that the travel industry is definitely on its way to recovery. For travelers too, many of whom have been eagerly awaiting the moment that it is safe for them to travel again, this will provide the assurance they need to begin planning their trips abroad. Hopefully, this news signals that we are returning to some semblance of normality and that we can confine 2020 to the history books.
For those consumers looking to book holidays in 2021 and 2022, people will start to buy up their foreign currency now before the value of the foreign currency increases massively again. Next year, there will be a mad dash for Euros and Dollars, but we implore caution, and for British holidaymakers to carefully consider where they buy their exchange from.
As Covid hit the travel sector hard, new alternative and transparent providers have grown out of the ashes, and now consumers have services, such as Bidwedge, to find incredible rates on swapping currencies, making their next holiday that bit sweeter.”
The question in the majority of people’s minds is whether these vaccines are safe due to the quick turnaround and the lack of adequate testing that most vaccines will normally endure before being put in the market. In addition to that, the most concerning part to most readers is whether the government plans to make it mandatory. A poll ran by the National Post suggested that 90% of our readers nationwide will say “No” to any calls for making the vaccine mandatory.
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