London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

‘It’s time to start travel again’: young people on Covid holiday rules

‘It’s time to start travel again’: young people on Covid holiday rules

With many under-30s not yet double vaccinated, four young people share their views on overseas travel

Being fully vaccinated looks likely to increase the chances of travelling abroad this summer. Boris Johnson said this week he was confident double jabs would be a “liberator” and did not rule out that they could enablequarantine-free overseas holidays.

However, most under-30s have received just one jab. Four young people share their feelings about their chances of taking a trip abroad.

‘We’ve made a lot of sacrifices but we haven’t got any of the benefits’


For Remy Haggard, a 26-year-old risk and intelligence analyst in London, the focus on vaccinations for travel is misplaced. Double vaccine requirements discriminate against young people, he says. “People who are the least vulnerable, yet again, have to wait the longest and suffer the most setbacks by way of opportunities.”

Instead he thinks testing should be prioritised and required of all travellers, vaccinated or not. “There’s been a lot of mixed messaging on transmission. Vaccinated people can still be carriers of variants. And the testing should be affordable and regulated, not done by rogue private companies.”

Haggard also thinks the pandemic has entrenched generational divides. “As millennials, typically living in flatshares, on relatively low incomes, we haven’t had some of the privileges of our parents’ generation, people who bought their homes much cheaper 30 years ago and now have homes that they can work from,” he says. “We’ve made a lot of sacrifices but we haven’t got any of the benefits.”

‘It feels incredibly unfair on young people’


Because she has an underlying medical condition, Georgia Bevan, 22, is fully vaccinated, but her boyfriend and friends are not, meaning a foreign holiday is probably off the cards for this summer.

“I completely understand the reasoning behind allowing those who have had both vaccinations to evade quarantine on arrival, but it feels incredibly unfair for those who haven’t had their chance to receive their second vaccine,” she says. “Young people have been neglected throughout, especially students. They’ve missed out on so many experiences and their mental health has taken a massive toll.”


Bevan, from Kent, who graduated mid-pandemic and now works in executive search, worries that many young people won’t be able to have a break this summer even in the UK. “Many young people can’t afford to holiday in the UK now,” she says, as prices have skyrocketed in many seaside destinations. She adds that as foreign travel entails testing or vaccination requirements, she would “feel safer going abroad than with everyone rushing to Cornwall or Devon”.

Bevan thinks it is time for things to open up again. “For months we’ve been told how as soon as vulnerable people – that includes me – have been vaccinated, things will open up. The majority of vulnerable people are double vaccinated – it’s time to start travel again.”

‘I believe I have a social and moral responsibility to protect others’


Despite being fully vaccinated, Ash, 24, won’t be travelling abroad this year. She lives with her mother, who works in a care setting in West Lothian, and is an unpaid carer herself alongside her job in a portfolio management office.

“We don’t completely know the score with you being able to give it to other people,” Ash says. “Of course it’s a lower chance of you contracting it, but we don’t completely know what it’s like for transmitting it. I just think that it’s smarter now, while it’s still so prevalent, to do what you can to just stop it from spreading.”

As she and her mother work with vulnerable people, Ash hasn’t felt ready to return to the pub just yet, let alone travel abroad. “I was 22 when the virus started and I’m now 24, and like many I’m losing what’s supposed to be my best years to this virus,” she says. “But as someone with the ability to control my own actions to protect others, I believe I have a social and moral responsibility to do so.

“It’s quite depressing sometimes but I try to check my privilege in the sense that I’ve been able to work remotely, I’m not a key worker. I do try to keep a bit of perspective and think if I do what I can then you’ve just got to trust that we can get over this sooner and back to a sense of normality.”

‘We want to be able to take a break from it all’


Alex Hardiment, 27, who works in a housing organisation in Stockport, sympathises with the disappointment felt by many unvaccinated young people, but says he understands the need for quarantine requirements.

“It’s hard to foresee any other path to travelling again beyond the small number of countries on the green list,” he says. He adds that some will still be able to benefit from quarantine-free travel: “A lot of young people I know have had their first jab and will have their second by the end of July, beginning of August, just through walk-ins.”

Hardiment and his partner have a trip to Disney World booked for September, which they arranged last April. He is hoping the US will relax its rules on British travellers by then. “There are many who would argue this is the year for staying in the UK, or that holidays aren’t a right they’re a luxury, but we feel we have worked hard as public sector employees in housing and social care through this pandemic. Every bit of leave we’ve had has been spent staring at our four walls, like many others, and we want to be able to take a break from it all.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×