'Massive' holiday bookings reported as vaccinated Brits keen to get back to Spain

BRITS are desperate to get to Spain after a whole year of being unable to take their sunshine summer breaks – and with the vaccine roll-out in the UK making progress, bookings have started to soar, according to tourism associations in the Mediterranean country.

Palma de Mallorca, Málaga and Alicante airports have seen a spike in reservations, according to low-cost carrier easyJet, which is also noticing a rise in its package holidays to these areas being snapped up.

In fact, since prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that the UK would start an 'irreversible' staged release from its third lockdown – which began just after Christmas – bookings for holidays shot up by 630%, says easyJet, and flights by 337%.

Spain has captured the bulk of these reservations, although the airports in Faro, southern Portugal and the Greek island of Crete have also proven to be among the most popular.

The most-booked month so far is August, followed almost equally by July and September.

CEO of easyJet Johan Lundgren says the airline is offering flexible tickets and free cancellation and rebooking, to give customers the confidence to take the plunge. 

Other tour operators in the UK have reported a similar phenomenon – TUI says its bookings have gone up 500%, with Spain, Turkey and Greece being the top choices, and Thomas Cook has seen a rise of 100% in reservations, particularly to Greece, Cyprus, México and the Dominican Republic.

Schools in the UK will reopen from March 8, just two weeks short of the 'anniversary' of the country's first going into lockdown, and the de-confining process will continue gradually until June 21.

If contagion rates remain 'under control', the UK government expects non-essential international travel to restart by the end of May.

Costa Blanca tourism association HOSBEC says it is predicting a 'massive' rise in holiday bookings for the next few weeks, especially to the area's most famous beach town, Benidorm.

Boris Johnson says he expects the whole of the UK's adult population to have been vaccinated by the end of July – immunisation is not being given to the under-16s at present – although international opinions are very divided on Britain's 'unique' inoculation strategy.

At least a quarter of the UK has now had its first vaccines, with the over-65s already being reached at the beginning of February and even late January, but appointments for second doses are being given between two and three months, or even longer, after the initial jab.

In Europe, an average of between 3-4% of the population has had both doses, but as yet, care workers and healthcare staff and people who need 24-hour care themselves are the only ones aged less than 80 who have been reached.

This is because continental Europe is giving out both doses for each group before moving onto the next, meaning everyone gets their second vaccine within one and three weeks of the first, in accordance with the prospectus information for the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccinations.

Medics are concerned the UK is 'taking a huge risk' by leaving so long between doses, as this could render the first one ineffective over time and force the country to repeat the entire immunisation programme – or, worse, could result in the Covid virus having time to become resistant to the inoculation in those who have had their first jab.

Other health experts say that as initial doses have seen contagion rates in the UK plummet, given that some immunity to the virus is present after this – estimated to be between 30% and 70% - this 'big risk' may pay off in the end, although 'only time will tell'.

Vaccines do not prevent a person from catching Covid-19 or from passing it onto others – it merely boosts the immune system so that the virus does not cause illness – meaning those immunised are safe from harm but those who have not yet had their jabs can still catch it from them and become sick.

A recent case of an elderly man in a care home in Spain may have proven the effectiveness of the vaccine: After having had both jabs, he caught the virus, but was asymptomatic; as the very elderly nearly always have symptoms when they contract Covid, and these are usually very serious and life-threatening, it could be taken as proof that the vaccine has 'done its job'.