COVID Travel Update Podcast Episode 025 COVID Vaccine Travel Requirements Welcome world travelers to COVID Travel Update podcast! I created this podcast for those who lead a travel-centered lifestyle. Whether you are a domestic or world traveler, you’ll find current information on the latest openings, closures, what you can and can’t do during the COVID pandemic when it comes to travel. Get the latest COVID travel information and find out where you can safely travel to each week by tuning into the COVID travel update podcast! In this episode, I’ll give you info on what countries will require COVID vaccination, why cruise lines will require the vaccine and if you’ll need to get a vaccine for traveling inside the United States. When Should You get a COVID Travel Vaccine? Based on the CDC website, "You should make an appointment with a travel medicine specialist or your health care provider ideally at least a month before your trip to get needed vaccines and medicines. Even if you're a last-minute traveler, there may be options for getting the vaccines and medicines you need." "If you need a yellow fever vaccine, keep in mind that it is currently available only at a limited number of clinics in theUnited States.The nearest yellow fever vaccination clinic may be some distance away from where you live, and appointments may be limited. Find the nearest clinic and contact it ahead of time to make sure it has the vaccine." CDC does not recommend getting travel vaccines in another country because: Most vaccines need to be administered ahead of time to give you complete protection against disease.Vaccines available in other countries may differ from those used in the United States and may be less effective.If you're concerned about the cost of travel vaccines and medicines, check to see if your city or county health department has a travel medicine clinic. It may cost less to visit a doctor there than to go to a private doctor. Wearing a Mask Even if You’re Vaccinated Even though I’m vaccinated, it’s not 100% reliable, and there are now three to four different strains of COVID floating about. Since I want to be healthy and safe to travel, I still always wear my mask at home and when traveling to err on the side of caution. “Vaccinated people will need to follow mask-wearing and safe social-distancing recommendations in public, at least until we reach the herd immunity magic number, which is around 196 million individuals in the U.S.,” says WorkCare’s Harris. The CDC has loosened restrictions for vaccinated individuals in some social settings, mainly outdoors without a large crowd. Another reason we’ll want everyone to keep wearing masks and take other precautions for the near future, adds Harris: “We don’t want a subsegment of the population walking around without masks in a setting that requires masks to be worn. That’s just such an awkward precedent for the remainder of individuals who don’t have access to vaccinations at this point in time.” COVID-19 Travel Passport Apps There’s been talk about mandating a COVID passport, which would note whether an individual has a negative COVID test and if they are vaccinated. While people were rejecting this idea at first, now it’s catching on, and many of the airlines and cruise lines support using a system where people can keep their COVID records electronically and be able to pull them up for proof of verification while traveling. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that “Anything is on the table. Anything is possible, of course.” The International Air Transport Association is developing a health app. The IATA Travel Pass will allow travelers to store test and vaccination results on their mobile devices. More than a dozen international airlines are testing this new app for use this summer. CLEAR is collaborating with the creators of CommonPass, developed by the nonprofit Commons Project and the World Economic Forum. This new app will establish a registry of trusted health care providers and a standard format for reporting results. Passengers will be able to take a COVID-19 test at home, send their test to a lab, and have their products uploaded to the CommonPass app. A QR code certifying that they’re clear for entry will be scanned upon their arrival. Eventually, it can and presumably be used to upload vaccination status, serving as an immunity passport. Although domestic flights aren’t looking at using this app, many international flights consider this option as a health check for travel passengers. And while a COVID-19 vaccination may not be required to board domestic flights, Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian said this type of screening may be exclusive to international travel, “whether the airlines do it or international authorities do it.” States Requiring COVID Vaccination for Travel Individual states could require ...
