Scientists are ‘not sure’ if the new South African strain of coronavirus will respond properly to a vaccine, a UK Cabinet minister said today.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, said the new variant was the reason for finally imposing pre-flight tests on arrivals from abroad.
People arriving in England and Scotland, and probably the whole UK, will need a negative Covid result from next week or face a £500 fine.
A debate has been ongoing in recent days about how the ‘501Y.V2’ variant, thought to have originated in South Africa, will respond.