Minister insists vaccine works against Brazilian Covid variant as travel ban begins
A Brazilian variant of the coronavirus is concerning enough to justify stopping flights from South America, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said today.
Shapps insists that the decision, which came into force at 4am this morning, was precautionary and does not mean vaccines would not work against the variant.
“As with the variant that we saw in Kent or the one in South Africa, it is significant enough to take this precautionary approach of stopping all those flights from Brazil and South America,” Shapps told Sky News.
“Our scientists aren’t saying that the vaccine won’t work against it, but we do not want to be tripping up at this last moment, which is why I took the decision as an extra precaution to ban those flights.”
The Covid-19 variant shares some characteristics with those found in Britain and South Africa, which are believed to be more transmissible but not causing more severe disease.
The transport minister announced on Thursday that he was banning all arrivals from Brazil and other South American states due to concerns over its spread.
Arrivals from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela are all forbidden.
Portugal was also added to the banned list due to its close travel links with Brazil.
The move means travellers are still likely be able to reach Britain on indirect flight routes via other Mediterranean countries such as Spain.