Airports reject vaccine requirement as travel debate intensifies

Requiring vaccines BEFORE they are generally available is a non-starter, but in 4 months, that should be revisited based on the availabillty of vaccines in countries with travelers.

For now, airports and airlines need to follow the existing best practices to reduce the spread. Nothing more can be done.

Also, if mandatory vaccination does come, it needs to be phased in over a few months so travelers can get the 2 doses. By the time mid-July comes along, international travelers should have been able to be vaccinated.

Do we want a tattoo with a special ink or RFID rice-grain to show someone was vaccinated? Say, between two fingers?

Do we want a tattoo with a special ink or RFID rice-grain to show someone was vaccinated? Say, between two fingers?

A passport entry ought to be sufficient, or an official record in a government run data base accessible by the airlines and booking agents. This stuff is doable. I suspect despite the IATA's objections some governments are going to force airlines to do this. Once a couple of larger nations force the matter it will cause all the rest to follow, much as California's insistence on OBD II eventually led to it being a global standard used on virtually all cars made today.

It’s up to individual airlines to make their own rules. I think, to protect staff, many will decide vaccinations are necessary for passengers.

I wonder if US State Department red passport holders and international diplomatic passport holders will be required to have these special passport for Covid.

This CCP virus has really made a mess of things. Plus news articles this morning posted on many sites have now said they believe the virus was in America in early December at least and not January 19th.

It really is bad times for humans.

It’s up to individual airlines to make their own rules.

Not necessarily. if a nation makes vaccination a requirement to get on an airplane airlines will have to comply. Saying no would get them banned from that nation's airports and rightly so.

When I've traveled to places that require the yellow fever vaccine, nobody cared on the way in, but on the way back out, customs wanted to see my vaccination sheet. This isn't a govt document, just a form from a health clinic where I got vaccinated with the dates of effective coverage. That vaccine lasts 10 yrs according to the document.

With COVID, I can see places, not just airports/airlines, wanting an automatic way to fast-check people. Perhaps when they enter a sports stadium - walk on a pressure plate and scan for an RFID response. People won't necessarily have a passport when entering places like that.