For the last year, our goal was to try and avoid catching the coronavirus. After we dodged two bullets when traveling to San Francisco and New York City at the beginning of 2020, our trips for the rest of the year were based on our risk assessment of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s comes 2021 and COVID-19 vaccines are here (albeit currently in limited supply.) Some people are fortunate enough to be higher on the list to receive a vaccine than others and that may seem unfair since some places, like at least some cruise lines, will require passengers to be vaccinated before getting on a ship. Honestly, those who are getting the vaccine first are at a higher risk of complications if they get sick or work in places where they’re at a higher risk of getting COVID.
I can’t help but ask that if a vaccine is a key to unlocking restriction-free travel, why is the only thing that the government is giving to prove your vaccination is a piece of paper?
There’s plenty of talk about countries requiring “digital passports” with a history of negative tests, proof of past infection or vaccination to allow guests to enter without a quarantine requirement. How will people be able to upload the information from this “card” into this database?
Most states have vaccine databases but they’re not linked and access is typically limited to health care practitioners in the said state. We have no national vaccination database and, until now, there’s been no desire to create one. In fact, states have been unwilling to let outside entities have access to those records in the name of patient privacy.
What I’m asking is if, in the future, all I’ll need to travel around the world is a piece of relatively thick paper (yes, I’ve held one and that’s all it is and they ship the blank ones with the vaccines.) The US really should have come up with a better system to confirm a patient’s vaccination status before starting to give the shots to patients, but there are plenty of things the US should have done better when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.
Or am I totally off base here???
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and get emailed notifications of when we post. Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group – we have 17,000+ members and we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.