Report: Rich Britons booking COVID-19 vaccination in UAE to skip UK wait

Rich and high-profile Britons are opting to travel abroad to get private vaccination against COVID-19, according to The Telegraph.

The UK began mass vaccination against the disease early December.

Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are currently being rolled out in the UK, with the most vulnerable group –people aged 80 and above, frontline health and social workers, residents in care homes and their caters, among others –getting vaccinated first.

The foreign newspaper named the United Arab Emirates as the popular destination where rich Britons book for COVID-19 vaccine jabs, combined with beach breaks between the two doses of the vaccine.

The option allows the rich, who cannot wait, to get earlier inoculation.

Knightsbridge Circle, a private concierge service in the UK, was quoted as saying celebrities, royals and business executives are among its clients who prefer to travel abroad for vaccination.

The concierge service is said to charge $33,900 a year for its services.

“Dubai and Abu Dhabi are already offering private appointments for the Pfizer vaccine,” Stuart McNeill, founder of Knightsbridge Circle, reportedly said.

“About 20% of our clients have opted to fly out and get it.”

In an attempt to curb the rapid rise in infections and deaths, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had imposed a new lockdown in England.

The lockdown, which is the third in the country, will remain until mid-February.

The UK is still the worst-hit in Europe with 3,072,349 cases and 81,431 fatalities, as of Monday.

TheCable had reported that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar received Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Dubai while Nigeria awaits the delivery of 20 million doses of the vaccine to the country in early 2021.