South Africa Holds Talks With U.K. on Travel, Vaccine Policies
South Africa Holds Talks With U.K. on Travel, Vaccine Policies
(Bloomberg) -- South Africa said government scientific experts met with U.K. counterparts to discuss the country’s ongoing presence on a list of nations banned due to Covid-19 risks, alongside a decision not to recognize coronavirus vaccines administered locally.
The outcomes will be considered as part of the next review of U.K. border measures over the next two weeks, South Africa’s Department of Health said in a statement on Monday. The U.K. is also looking to extend recognition of vaccine certificates “as rapidly as possible,” the state institution said, without citing anyone on either side.
South Africa has reacted in fury about its continued inclusion on the U.K.’s so-called red list, which bars foreigners outright and forces British citizens to undergo hotel quarantine on arrival at a cost of 2,285 pounds ($3,132). The U.K. also won’t recognize visitors as vaccinated unless they received doses in a select group of countries, regardless of which shot they were given.
South Africa has officially exited its third wave of coronavirus infections, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases has said, with daily new infections falling to below 1,000 on Sunday. About 21% of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
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