93% of Brits would take COVID vaccine if it meant they could go on holiday

As the world prepares to welcome 2021, specialist travel insurance firm Medical Travel Compared has surveyed 2,000 holidaymakers to reveal how we’re all feeling about vaccinating against COVID-19 in order to holiday abroad in the new year.

View the full results of the research here.

Top 3 reasons for not taking the vaccine

• I don’t trust the vaccine, say 35%
• I’m scared about the side effects of the vaccine, say 17%
• I want others to take the vaccine before I take it, say 13%

The outlook of travel in the new year remains positive across the UK. 70% of respondents indicated they were more likely to start travelling abroad again once they had received the vaccine.

76% said that they would still go on holiday if they were required to take a COVID-19 test on arrival at their destination and 75% said they would be willing to take the test upon departure.

Despite the positive sentiments expressed about the vaccine, the survey also revealed 43% still feel unsafe when it comes to travelling abroad. The most pressing issue of concern, shared by 66% of respondents, is whether or not their travel insurance will cover COVID-19 should they contract the virus.

Despite concerns, 36% indicated they intend to book a holiday in the near future, with most people saying they would choose to vacation in Europe. The most popular month to book a holiday in 2021 is May, followed by April 2021 and June 2021 respectively.

Here’s what else Britons had to say regarding their future travel concerns and what would make them feel safer about travelling in 2021:

• “Mandatory testing before travel and repeated tests in resorts.”
• “A health passport system is part of the solution to situations like this.”
• “Vaccination instead of isolation on my return.”
• “All travellers on the plane should have a negative test before flying.”
• “I would feel happier once European countries had rolled out a vaccination programme comprehensively.”
• “I would need to know if I can afford health insurance before I travel.”
• “Cost of holiday insurance once [the UK is] out of the EU is a worry.”

Wales led the positive poll with 96% of respondents agreeing to a COVID-vaccination for travel, with Scotland coming up tops with 40% of those surveyed confirming they feel safer about travelling abroad in the future.

Tommy Lloyd, managing director at Medical Travel Compared said: “Over the past 10 months, COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on how the world travels, with many finding their holiday plans derailed as they quite rightly focus on staying safe and healthy in these unprecedented times. It’s encouraging to see that with the rollout of the UK’s vaccine programme, confidence in travelling is set to return in a big way, with the majority of travellers intending to travel again once they have been vaccinated.”