Booster status will be added to international pass for English travellers; Austrian lockdown starts on Monday, first EU country to make vaccines mandatory
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- French president credits success of health pass in avoiding lockdown
- Booster jabs to be added to NHS Covid pass for outbound travel
- German health chief urges crackdown to avert ‘very bad Christmas’
- How NSW, Australia, kept Covid cases low after reopening
- Threats and fury: mood darkens in New Zealand as restrictions bite
A quick snap from Reuters here that the UK government has announced it will add booster shot status to the Covid-19 pass for outbound international travel, though it said they would not be added to the domestic pass at this time.
The health ministry said that travellers who have had a booster or a third dose would be able to demonstrate their vaccine status through the NHS Covid pass from Friday, adding that a booster was not necessary to travel into England.
This pandemic has exposed a vulnerability to whole-system emergencies – that is, emergencies that are so broad that they engage the entire system. Although the government had plans for an influenza pandemic, it did not have detailed plans for many non-health consequences and some health consequences of a pandemic like Covid-19. There were lessons from previous simulation exercises that were not fully implemented and would have helped prepare for a pandemic like Covid-19. There was limited oversight and assurance of plans in place, and many pre-pandemic plans were not adequate. In addition, there is variation in capacity, capability and maturity of risk management across government departments.
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