YOUNG parents risk missing a foreign holiday this summer as they will not be double jabbed by the end of the school break.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will today confirm that travel restrictions to amber countries will be relaxed for the fully vaccinated.

🔵 Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest updates

But parents under 30 are up in arms over a two-week delay to get away.

Would-be holidaymakers will only be handed travel freedoms once they have full immunity from Covid a fortnight after their second jab.

Although the freedoms are likely to kick in on July 19 in England, younger travellers will not have protection until well into August.

As a knock-on, many will not be able to take a ­foreign jaunt until September — when their kids are back in school.

It means thousands of young families will not be able to head to the likes of Spain, France or Greece because of the rules.

Figures show that only 32 per cent of people in their 30s have been double jabbed, while only one in five of those aged 18 to 29 has full immunity.

In contrast, 96 per cent of over-60s and 90 per cent of over-50s will be able to access a vaccine passport.

Single mum Leah Williams, 22, from Runcorn, Cheshire, is devastated after her first holiday with son Jackson-Lee had to be put on hold.

The pair planned to go to the Canary Islands in August, before the four-year-old starts school in September.

But now that trip looks impossible, as there is no way Leah will have both vaccinations in time.

She would have to fork out ­hundreds on testing and quarantine for ten days if she did go — making the holiday unaffordable and impossible to fit in around work.

Leah has only just been offered her first jab, and would have to wait a minimum eight weeks before getting her second.

And Brits then have to wait for two weeks after the second shot for the vaccine to work fully.

The cleaner told The Sun: “We wanted to go to Spain and go to the beach, because Jackson has never been to a really nice beach.

"We just wanted to have a fun holiday and experience going away before he started school in September.

"This was going to be our first holiday abroad — we’ve been planning this trip for around three years.

"We originally wanted to go away before but had to wait because of the pandemic.”

Little Jackson-Lee asks every day when they are going to the beach, and mum Leah has to reply: “Not yet, soon.”

She added: “I think the Government should do more to help young families go on holiday. I don’t think we should need both jabs to be able to go on holiday easily.

“It penalises younger people and younger families, who haven’t been able to get their vaccinations.

'PRAGMATIC POLICIES'

“We’ve all been locked up for the same amount of time as older people so why should they be able to go on holiday first? And after school starts, we won’t be able to go abroad.”

Travel expert Paul Charles said quarantine should be axed. He added: “They can go away but they are likely to have to do more PCR testing and also quarantine if coming back from amber.

“To be honest, quarantine should be removed altogether and testing more relied upon.

“Quarantine has always been a blunt tool to prevent people travelling — but the world has moved on, and this government needs to.”

Tory MP Henry Smith, whose constituency covers Gatwick airport, said the vaccine rollout should “allow us to travel abroad again, without the threat of quarantine or expensive testing requirements, including from ‘amber’ countries under the traffic light system”.

He added: “Opening up safe travel to these people would be a huge step forward, alongside pragmatic policies for children where they do not have to quarantine if travelling with vaccinated adults.”

But Tim Alderslade, from Airlines UK — which represents British Airways, Virgin and easyJet among others — welcomed the news.

He said: “Implementing this from July 19 would go a long way to saving the summer season and enable us to meet the enormous demand for family holidays that we know exists.

"People are desperate to go away now — they don’t want to wait. Any later and the summer is essentially almost over.

“It would be a huge wasted opportunity and the death knell for tens of thousands of jobs.”

Meanwhile, Heathrow is to provide fast-track lanes for fully-vaccinated arrivals as the airline industry steps up pressure on ministers to open up quarantine-free travel to amber destinations.

Source: Read Full Article