Some destinations – including the Seychelles, Cyprus and Romania – have already lifted quarantine requirements for visitors who can prove they have been vaccinated. Others, such as Iceland and Hungary, have opened up people who have recovered from Covid-19.
It raises the prospect that vaccination or immunity could be the golden ticket for reloading travel, and it seems like good news for people eager to book summer holidays after months of exclusion, especially if the rollout of vaccines fit.
They can open the restaurants, pubs, cinemas and other leisure and leisure facilities, many of which have struggled over the past year on the brink of – or are already the victim of – financial ruin.
Technical companies like IBM are also trying to actively engage and develop smartphone applications or digital wallets in which individuals can upload information about Covid-19 tests and vaccinations. It gets support from major players in the travel industry.
Zurab Pololikashvili, the secretary-general of the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization, this week called for the global acceptance of vaccination passports as part of larger measures he said are needed to get the world going again.
“The deployment of vaccines is a step in the right direction, but the restart of tourism cannot wait,” he said at a meeting of the UNWTO’s Global Tourism Crisis Committee in Madrid. “Vaccines should be part of a broader, coordinated approach that includes certificates and passports for safe cross-border travel.”
‘Fundamental priority’
But the concept of immunity passports remains deeply controversial, and anyone who applies for a summer holiday in 2021 could be disappointed.
While there are strong arguments that globally recognized inoculation documentation could help reconnect the planet, there are still fears about the protection they actually offer, how it could be abused and what it means for those who are still waiting.
There are also questions about whether it would become mandatory for any trip and how personal data would be securely shared.
Calls from several European countries to draw up an internationally recognized vaccination certificate this week have prompted the European Union to debate the measure, even as deadly Covid-19 waves continue the continent.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier in January, stressing that the need for such widely accepted documentation is a ‘fundamental priority for all of us’.
“While we are not going to make vaccination mandatory or prerequisites for travel, vaccinated persons should be free to travel,” Mitsotakis wrote. “It will provide a positive incentive to ensure that citizens are encouraged to undergo vaccination, and that is the only way to return to normalcy.”
During the late summer of 2020, some borders opened up within the EU, enabling holidaymakers to seek a dose of sunshine and countries dependent on tourism to recover losses. The fear exists that, without free movement in 2021, the economic impact could be disastrous.
Such pleas are handled with caution by other EU members.
They discussed the issue in Brussels on Thursday and agreed on the need for cross-border cooperation on vaccine vaccination, but were concerned that its use to make travel possible could lead to unvaccinated people being treated as second-class citizens.
This can lead to scenarios where restaurants or bars require proof of vaccination from customers seeking a glass of wine, or travel companies that prevent unvaccinated access to their services.
Unknown vaccine
This is something that is already being seen, with airlines such as the Australian Qantas and companies such as the Saga Cruises in the UK insisting that only vaccinated passengers may undertake international travel.
Von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Thursday that there are concerns about unknown vaccine holders, such as whether those who have been vaccinated can still carry and transmit the coronavirus and how long protection lasts.
“And then the political question,” she adds. “How do you ensure that you respect the rights of those who have not had access to a vaccine, and what alternatives do you offer to those who have legal reasons for not getting the vaccine?”
Concerns about balancing the need to reopen borders with the fairness that those vaccinated can run the world while others still lock up and endure the risk of infection were expressed by the World Health Organization earlier this month.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, said last week that he was skeptical about the divisive effect that vaccine passports could have.
“There are two urgent issues that need special attention and for which we are seeking your advice today,” he said during a meeting of the WTO’s emergency committee. ‘The first is the recent emergence of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus; and the second is the possible use of vaccination and testing certificates for international travel.
“One theme connects both issues: solidarity. We can not afford to prioritize or punish certain groups or countries.
‘Too early’ to book
Such inequalities were, of course, already a feature of the current travel restrictions.
The exclusive resorts of the Maldives, for example, have been open to everyone for several months, although the high price and current premium price to get there limits access to all but the rich.
Although the debate continues over the implementation, control and application of immunity certification – if at all – the problem may remain difficult for those hoping to plan a summer outing in 2021.
In the UK, the first country to start vaccinations, infection rates are going to gallop despite increased restrictions since the end of December, prompting government officials to warn that international holidays remain uncertain this summer.
British Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Monday that it was ‘too early’ to discuss travel before September, and then the majority of the population should be vaccinated. He advised British citizens to plan a holiday on their own soil instead.
Even that can be optimistic. As major UK calendar events such as the Glastonbury Festival in 2021 have already been postponed due to the ongoing uncertainties, there is the possibility that a summer holiday at home could also be canceled.
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