A British private members club for the super-rich has started to fly its clients out to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India for COVID-19 vaccination holidays that can cost as much as £40,000 ($54,000) for a four-week trip that includes two doses of either the Pfizer / BioNTech or Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccines.
Knightsbridge Circle, which only awards membership on a “selective basis”, says the two jab vaccination is included in its £25,000 annual membership but a package that includes First Class flights with Emirates to Dubai, as well as luxury accommodation for the three to four week wait between jabs would cost around £40,000.
Around 20 per cent of the club’s members have already booked a package according to Knightsbridge Circle founder Stuart McNeil speaking with The Telegraph. Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi are already offering private appointments for the Pfizer vaccine, while the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is known as Covishield in India, is available privately for around 1,000 rupees.
“It’s like we’re the pioneers of this new luxury travel vaccine programme. You go for a few weeks to a villa in the sunshine, get your jabs and your certificate and you’re ready to go,” McNeil told the newspaper.
“They land, have their first jab and wait for the second one. We’ve got some people that are going to India for the whole time and others are talking about flying in, having the first jab, flying out to Madagascar, and then coming back for the second jab later,” he continued.
McNeil, however, said the club was currently prioritising older members and that no one under the age of 65 had yet been offered the opportunity to fly out to the UAE or India for a jab.
“If you’re a 35-year-old young chap who goes to the gym twice a day, you’ve got no chance of getting the vaccine through us. That’s for sure.”
Several weeks ago, the Sunday Times reported that the super-rich had been bombarding private doctors with requests to get vaccinated ahead of a mass rollout. Disappointingly, at least for the super-rich, doctors say the vaccine manufacturers are too busy fulfilling government contracts and won’t make the jabs available privately for some time.
Many countries are prioritising the most elderly and vulnerable citizens, as well as frontline healthcare workers before other age groups and haven’t announced plans to make the vaccines available on the open market.
