While Covid vaccinations are advancing very slowly in the European Union, the United Kingdom is driving at a much faster pace. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has now also issued a roadmap that provides for the lifting of all restrictions by June 21, 2021. Immediately after the announcement, bookings for summer vacations and flights skyrocketed.

The British are actually used to their governments setting a rather leisurely pace, but when it comes to Covid vaccinations, you are the European country that has already immunized most of the people. The EU Commission, headed by the German CSU politician Ursula von der Leyen, has been in the crossfire of criticism for several weeks due to the lack of cans. There is no shortage of vaccines in the UK, which is a real embarrassment for EU countries.

It is to be expected that many states will grant people who have been vaccinated against Covid-2021 significant entry restrictions in the summer of 19. In the UK, it is believed that anyone who wants to be vaccinated can get immunized before their summer vacation. In Germany and Austria, there are currently not unjustified doubts about the statements made by politicians that this will also be possible.

Since older people and people who work in the health sector, for example, are preferred, some associations have meanwhile joked that the “summer vacation of the pensioners and the privileged” could be imminent. In order to be able to prevent this a little, Austria and Germany, for example, do not want to grant vaccinated people any relief. If the entry requirements are retained, this could lead to the absurd circumstance that, for example, the vaccination certificate is sufficient in the holiday country, but a quarantine must be started when returning to the home country.

Clear roadmap for corona exit

In any case, the British government wants to end the corona restrictions in a five-stage plan "carefully but irrevocably" by June 21, 2021. Johnson also said that the actual implementation depends on the further progress of the vaccinations and the overall situation. In this context, the Prime Minister also pointed out that the individual stages depend on the data situation and not on specific dates.

Johnson wants to take the first opening step on March 8, 2021. Schools are slated to open in the vast majority of the UK. From March 29, 2021, meetings between two households and the use of outdoor sports facilities should be made possible again. From April 12, 2021, shops, museums, libraries, restaurants and bars are to be opened. Possibly there could be a restriction that the gastronomy is temporarily only allowed to serve in the outdoor areas.

From May 17, 2021, cinemas and hotels are to be reactivated. Indoor sports are also allowed again. There are also plans to gradually reactivate international travel from this date onwards. A maximum of 10.000 fans should then be allowed to go to the football stadium again. From June 21, 2021, there will be no more restrictions in England. Whether international travel will then be completely free again, said Johnson, who points out that this timetable refers to England and that the other parts of the country will shortly present similar plans.

New bookings shot up 600 percent

After Boris Johnson's announcements, Easyjet's new bookings for the summer of 2021 skyrocketed by 630 percent. The tour operator Tui UK announced that it was also possible to sell 600 percent more package tours. The entire industry was able to sell around 337 percent more flight tickets in the first hours after the Prime Minister's speech.

"The Prime Minister's address gave many UK customers a much-needed confidence boost," Easyjet CEO Johan Lundgren said in a media statement. Spain, Portugal and Crete are particularly popular with the British. The vast majority of new bookings were received for August 2021.