A couple say they were barred from taking a holiday in Malta and sent home from Manchester airport at 3,30am because the vaccine they have been given was made in India.
Boris Johnson has recently looked to play down concerns that up to five million Britons could be barred from taking holidays in the European Union because their vaccinations are not recognised by its passport scheme.
The problem centres on doses made by the Serum Institute of India being known as Covishield.
Despite it being the same as other AstraZeneca vaccines, it has not been authorised by Europe’s regulator and is therefore not recognised by the EU.
The Prime Minister has previously stated he was “very confident” Covishield would not cause an issue, but Steve and Glenda Hardy, 64 and 63, told the newspaper they were turned back at Manchester airport at 3.30am on Friday when they tried to board a flight to Malta.
The Hull couple, who were given Indian manufactured doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March, said they had to holiday in Llandudno, Wales, instead.
“We were just gutted,” Mrs Hardy told The Telegraph. “We thought we’d covered ourselves – we paid for PCR tests, downloaded the NHS app and printed off the letter – but we fell at the final hurdle. I feel like we’re in limbo.
“We haven’t seen our son since he moved there a year ago. We had our flights refunded by Tui, but that’s by-the-by. Our big fear is that we just don’t know when we’ll be able to go to Malta.”
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