By 
Source: IATA International Air Transport Association
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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The topic of vaccinations has always been a heated one but no debate has been quite as polarising as the COVID-19 vaccine. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a wave of skepticism spurred on by wild conspiracy theories, lack of information and the pandering of misinformation by vaccine hesitant groups. Over the past few months, this has spilled over into the aviation industry as travel experts, industry analysts and others weigh in on whether COVID-19 vaccinations will be required to travel in the future. With more than 227.5 million doses having been administered worldwide (per the New York Times), governments – especially those in countries where tourism plays a critical role in the overall economy such as in the Caribbean – are tasked with making that very decision in the not so distant future. While time will tell whether governments decide to implement or forego this requirement, one thing that is certain is that it will definitely have lasting impacts on prospective travellers and the residents of that country.
Who Will Mandate Vaccinations for International Travel?
While the airlines have been advocates for the removal of mandatory quarantine periods (quarantines have put an even further strain on travel demand) in favour of increased testing prior to departure and vaccinations, in my opinion, they won’t be the ones to mandate vaccinations for international travel. Countries around the world (possibly in concert with international regulatory bodies such as IATA and ICAO) will make those decisions as to what the travel requirements are for entry. This isn’t uncommon and there are existing vaccination requirements in place for entry into certain countries today. Tony Fernandes, the CEO for AirAsia shared a similar sentiment in a recent interview and stated, “…We lived in a world where if you wanted to go to certain parts of the world, you needed malaria pills, or you needed to show you had yellow fever inoculations. So this is not something new.”
Why Are They Pushing for Mandatory Vaccinations?
As countries began to reopen, governments enacted a host of measures designed to not only reduce the risk of importation of COVID-19 but to help safeguard its citizens and visitors alike. These measures included mandatory quarantine periods (ranging from 5 to 14 days), health visas and mandatory testing prior to departure (and in some cases on arrival). Despite the implementation of these measures however, some countries still experienced spikes in COVID-19 cases, going from a moderately low caseloads to a full blown health crisis in a matter of weeks. This can be attributed to travellers not adhering to travel protocols, pandemic fatigue and a host of other variables. This in turn forced governments to implement restrictive measures once again (such as border closures). Needless to say, this yo-yoing effect (reopening and closing of borders and economies) has led to considerable hardship. This is especially in regions that are dependent on tourism such as the Caribbean (where international travel accounts for the majority of travel to and from the islands) and is one of the primary reasons why governments are exploring the implementation of mandatory vaccinations for travellers.
How Will It Work? Health Passports
With most countries requiring that passengers show proof of testing – and possibly vaccinations in the future, the industry is turning to technology to assist with verification. IATA Travel Pass, CommonPass, VeriFLY are all mobile applications designed to allow passengers to provide proof of their COVID-19 test results. The common issue that plagues the industry is non-standardised testing requirements, fraud and changing requirements from country to country. These applications are designed to ensure that test results are valid and from approved accredited labs. To date, airlines such as JetBlue, United, American Airlines (among others) are using these applications on some international flights and the feedback has been extremely positive.
Balanced Approach
While the airlines and countries may wish to implement mandatory vaccinations – there are numerous challenges ahead that need to be ironed out such as vaccination rates (countries such as Israel have already vaccinated half it’s population whereas smaller countries such as The Bahamas have yet to receive it’s first dose), discrimination against those who choose to not be vaccinated – this would be especially difficult to enforce for citizens who have a right to be landed in their home country, efficacy of vaccines when compared against each other etc. Additionally, scientists are still working to determine if persons who are vaccinated can transmit the virus to others.
As such, I believe that a balanced approach should be taken as it relates to managing travel in the future. For those passengers that are vaccinated (assuming the science proves that they cannot transmit the disease to others – initial information appears to be confirming that it is stopping transmission) then I’m of the opinion that these persons should be exempted from testing and quarantining on arrival at their destination. For those that prefer not to be vaccinated, a sound and robust testing regime is needed. Passengers should be tested prior to departure – the window should be shortened to say 24 hours prior to departure – and possibly tested on arrival just to confirm that they’re COVID free. Once the person has passed both tests, they too should be exempted from quarantine or any other restrictive measures. While this may present some logistical challenges, I think that during the booking process, passengers could identify whether they’ve been vaccinated or intend to get tested and then this can be verified through the health passport technology discussed earlier. By doing this, I believe it’s a fairer process for all travellers – regardless of whether you decide you want to be vaccinated or not – and helps our industry to recover that much safer and that much faster.
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