UK steps up mass vaccination program as travel corridors close

The UK will step up its mass coronavirus vaccination program this week, offering shots to millions more people, as the country shuts its borders to anyone who hasn’t tested negative. Vaccines will be offered to people aged 70 and over, and those deemed “clinically extremely vulnerable” from Monday -- the third and fourth priority groups. PM Boris Johnson called it a “significant milestone” in the vaccination effort. The government aims to offer the vaccine to all UK adults by September, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday. So far, more than 4.3m people have received their first dose, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker. Meanwhile, ministers will close travel corridors with other countries from Monday, meaning that all visitors from overseas will require a negative test result within 72 hours of travel to enter Britain. Health officials will step up checks to make sure they self-isolate at home for the next 10 days. The government hasn’t ruled out setting up quarantine hotels or using GPS trackers to make sure people stay put. Raab told Sky News it would consider “all possibilities” to enforce Covid rules and prevent any new variants of the virus derailing the UK’s vaccination efforts. Forcing travelers to stay in dedicated hotels on arrival would still put the UK many months behind other countries, such as Australia which introduced the policy last March.<br/>