UK opens quarantine accommodations, pushes on with vaccine drive

LONDON – Britain’s newly refurbished quarantine hotels welcomed their first guests on Monday as the government tried to prevent new variants of coronavirus from disrupting a fast-paced vaccination campaign that fired more than 15 million shots in ten weeks.

Passengers arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport were escorted by security guards to buses that took them to nearby hotels.

Some of the travelers said they tried and failed to get to the UK before Monday to avoid quarantine.

Zari Tadayon, who had flown from Dubai to Heathrow and was taken to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel near the airport, said she was hoping to be allowed to quarantine at her London home. She said she felt “awful” about the 10 day forced hotel stay.

“I don’t know how I’ll deal with it. It’s going to be difficult, “she said.

Britain has given a first dose of coronavirus vaccine to nearly a quarter of its population, however health Officials are concerned that Vaccinations may not work as well on some new strains of the virus, including one that was first identified in South Africa.

Under the new rules, UK and Irish residents coming to England from 33 high risk countries must stay in designated hotels for 10 days at their own expense and have meals delivered to their doorsteps. In Scotland, the rule applies to arrivals from any country.

International travel has already been slowed down by the pandemic, and Britons are currently prohibited from vacationing overseas.

However, critics say the British quarantine hotels are being set up too late and the South African variant is already in circulation in the UK

Nick Thomas-Symonds, opposition Labor Party spokesman for borders and immigration, said reports of passengers from “red zone” countries mingling with others on airplanes and at the airport showed that the government’s quarantine policies were “half-hearted” be.

On Sunday, the Conservative government achieved its target of giving 15 million of the UK’s most vulnerable people, including the first of two doses of vaccine health Nurses and those over 70.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited a vaccination center in London on Monday praising the “incredible efforts” of scientists, medical professionals, pharmacists, military personnel and volunteers in achieving Europe’s fastest vaccine introduction.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the vaccination campaign is now being extended to people over 65 and people with underlying health conditions. The government plans to have their first vaccine available to all over 50s by the end of April and to vaccinate the entire adult population by September.

Simon Stevens, director of the National Health Service in England, warned that the national vaccination campaign consists of “two sprints and one marathon, (and) we have just come to the end of the first sprint”. He said months of vaccinations and possibly booster shots against new variants were ahead of us.

The UK had the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe, with more than 117,000 deaths, although infections and deaths continue to decline after more than a month of national lockdown. On Monday, the UK recorded 9,765 new cases, the first time since October 2 that it was below 10,000. 230 new deaths have been recorded, almost a third less than a week ago.

On February 22nd, the government announced a “roadmap” to ease the lockdown.

Johnson is under pressure from some members of his ruling Conservative Party to lift the lockdown soon so businesses can reopen and people can visit friends and family.

The prime minister, who was accused of being too slow to block the UK last spring and then too quick to relax restrictions over the summer, is now adopting a more measured tone.

“Although the vaccination program is going well, we still don’t have enough data on the exact effectiveness of the Vaccinations in reducing the spread of infection, “Johnson said at a news conference.

“We have to be both optimistic and patient,” he said. “Because we want this lock to be the last.”

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Pan Pylas in London contributed to this story.

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