Saga will turn away cruise passengers who haven't been vaccinated

Saga becomes first travel company to require all passengers to be vaccinated – as cruise customers face rush to get TWO jab doses before first voyage on May 4

• Firm today told passengers they must be inoculated at least 14 days before travel
• First travel firm to insist on jabs and will also test passengers prior to departure
• Boris Johnson today insisted Britain’s jab rollout was still on track despite delay 

Saga today became the first travel group to insist on all passengers being vaccinated before embarking on their cruises. 

The firm, which mainly caters to over-50s based in the UK, today wrote to passengers saying they must be inoculated at least 14 days before travel and take a Covid test at the terminal. 

It is pushing its restart date for cruises back to May 4 to allow passengers to receive two vaccine doses in time for their holiday.

The UK government has now decided to delay the time between jab doses to 12 weeks, so passengers would have to receive their first dose within the next few weeks to hit the May deadline. 

The Spirit of Adventure ship will host Saga’s first cruise since the start of the Covid pandemic 

The Spirit of Discovery will be next to leave harbour on June 2. All passengers will need to have received two Covid jabs 

Nick Stace, chief executive of Saga’s travel arm, told customers: ‘Given that many of our customers are in the priority age range and we’ve done calculations based on what government has said, we think shortly after beginning of May almost all of customers will have received a second vaccination.

‘To allow our customers time to get vaccinated, we are moving the restart date for our travel businesses to May. 

‘Our new vaccination policy will be in addition to the detailed arrangements we have already put in place for when cruises and other holidays restart.’ 

Given that Saga will swab passengers at the terminal, this suggests they will use rapid lateral flow tests rather than the more accurate, but slower, PCR tests. 

The cruise line will also introduce social distancing on its ships, double its onboard medical teams and use a ‘state-of-the-art’ air conditioning system to circulate fresh air. 

Ken Hughes receives an injection of a Covid-19 vaccine at an NHS vaccine centre in Birmingham 

The first ship to depart will be the Spirit of Adventure on May 4 and the Spirit of Discovery on June 2. 

It came as Boris Johnson today insisted the UK is still ‘on track’ to hit the target of vaccinating the 14million most vulnerable people by mid-February despite rising alarm at a slowdown in progress.

The PM warned that ‘constraints on supply’ were making the situation harder as he was grilled by MPs in the Commons this afternoon, after alarm that the daily rate had fallen for a third consecutive day.

‘We are on track to deliver our pledge, though it is very hard because of constraints on supply,’ Mr Johnson said.

The intervention came amid mounting confusion about the source of the problems, with just 204,000 people given their first dose on Monday, down from 225,000 on Sunday, 277,000 on Saturday and a high of 324,000 on Friday.

In order to meet the target the government must average more than 350,000 doses a day from now until February 15, with the previous bullish tone from officials abruptly getting more anxious.

However, in a more optimistic development this afternoon NHS England released provisional data showing it had administered 301,362 more doses in 24 hours.

Boris Johnson stressed the scale of the challenge as he was grilled by MPs in the Commons this afternoon, after alarm that the daily rate had fallen for a third consecutive day

Pfizer’s supplies have been dented by a factory upgrade which will continue into next month. Government sources have flatly dismissed claims there are 21million doses of vaccines already in the country, although they refused to give details of stocks saying it would be a security risk.

Officials say there are ‘a lot of moving parts’ contributing to the slowdown, with ‘intermittent’ deliveries of supplies, as well as difficulties contacting the remaining over-80s and covering care homes among the factors. However, there are hopes in Whitehall that today’s numbers will go up again.

MPs have also voiced frustration at the way supplies have been divvied out across the UK. In London the allocation is believed to have been based on takeup of last season’s flu vaccine, which was relatively low.

Meanwhile, there are complaints that the system is descending into a ‘free for all’ with council staff being given jabs before 70-somethings in some areas.

The chaos has fuelled fears that lockdown measures will have to last longer, with suggestions that the earliest timetable for a significant easing has slipped ‘beyond Easter’. Sir Patrick Vallance cautioned this morning that infection numbers are ‘nowhere near where they need to be’ to consider loosening measures.

At PMQs, Mr Johnson played up the achievements of the rollout and indicated he is determined to stick with the priority list set out by the JCVI vaccines experts.

Pushed on whether frontline workers such as police, firefighters, carers, and teachers would be given priority in the next phase, Mr Johnson said: ‘We must rely on what the JCVI has to say, the priorities that the experts have decided, but of course we want to see those groups that he mentions vaccinated as soon as possible.

‘I am very pleased that in spite of all the difficulties we gave 1.5 million people their first dose, up half a million on the week before.’ 

Pfizer’s supplies have been dented by a factory upgrade at its plant in Belgium (pictured) which will continue into next month

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