Will Proof of Vaccination be Needed to Travel?

Oxford partnered with Astra/Zeneca and says their vaccine is effective at preventing the virus.

With both the Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines granted FDA Emergency Use Authorization, the United States had initially vaccinated about 4.3 million persons by year end. Granted, this is a far cry from the Federal Government’s stated goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of 2020. We still have a long way to go but progress is being made despite its seemingly glacial pace. Elsewhere, UK regulators recently approved the use of a vaccine developed in partnership by Oxford University and AstraZeneca even though its late-stage trial results showed a wide range of efficacy levels varying by dose and age group. Here in the US, AstraZeneca expects to have data from a large American clinical trial to show to the Food and Drug Administration by February. Other efforts to develop an effective vaccine are currently underway indicating a number of additional tools might soon be available for use in combating the spread of COVID-19. This all bodes well for travel.

TSA security screenings in the US increased substantially over the Holiday period.

While the number of persons flying in the US is on the rise (topping 1million per day on the weekend before Christmas and 1.3 million after the New Year’s Holiday), a patchwork of quarantine restrictions and testing regulations remains in place in many parts of the country. Internationally, most nation’s borders remain closed to all but their own citizens and essential visitors. (The only soon-to-be exception is the UK Government which yesterday announced that everyone entering England or Scotland, including their own nationals, will be required to show a negative COVID test result beginning January 13). Keeping these rapidly changing entry requirements in mind, what might vaccine developments portend for would-be travelers wondering what to expect in the coming year? Will we need to prove we’ve been vaccinated in order to travel? Let’s see what we know right now.

Qantas has indicated that proof of vaccination may be required of international passengers.

Qantas Airways was the first airline to raise the issue in November when CEO Alan Joyce announced the Australian flag carrier might require international passengers to be immunized against COVID-19 before flying. In an interview with CNN affiliate Nine News, Joyce said the move would be essential once vaccines were readily available. He indicated the airline was considering changing its terms and conditions to “ask people to have a vaccination before they get on the aircraft. Whether you need that domestically, we will have to see what happens with COVID-19 in the market. But certainly, for international visitors coming out and people leaving the country, we think that’s a necessity,” the QANTAS executive noted. While Australia’s national airline was the first to indicate that vaccinations would be needed before traveling, others might soon follow suit. “I think it will be a common theme, talking to my colleagues in other airlines across the world,” Joyce declared. His comments ignited a firestorm of controversy.

A 14-day quarantine was enacted for international arrivals into Great Britain in June.

Experts have differing opinions about making vaccines mandatory. While some think they might encourage people who are wary of boarding an aircraft and restricted by quarantines, others think vaccines won't be widely available until late in the year and the industry won't survive such mandates. Not surprisingly, the Airports Council International (ACI), which represents airports worldwide, joined several airlines in calling for a choice between testing or vaccination, fearing a blanket rule imposing pre-flight inoculation would be as disruptive as quarantines. Airlines as well as airports are worried that waiting for vaccines to be administered would bar people from traveling until they are widely rolled out, crippling businesses in regions like Europe that have relatively small domestic aviation markets. “Just as quarantines effectively halted the industry, a universal requirement for vaccines could do the same,” ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira told Reuters. “While we welcome the rapid development and deployment of vaccines, there will be a considerable period before they are widely available,” he added.

Some Lufthansa domestic flights require passengers and crew to test negative before boarding.

American Airlines has said it’s too early to discuss vaccine policies and nothing definitive’s been forthcoming from Delta or United. Both of these carriers are, however, offering COVID-free flights between the US and several cities in Europe which require rapid testing before boarding. Like its US counterparts, Lufthansa German Airlines and its subsidiary Brussels Airlines will not make a COVID vaccine a prerequisite to fly but are running trial domestic flights where only passengers with negative test results are allowed to board. The airline‘s purchased 250,000 antigen tests and has set up testing sites at certain airports for travelers booked on selected COVID-tested flights where passengers receive a quick throat swab prior to boarding. The rapid antigen test is offered free of charge at the airport and results are emailed within 60 minutes. Those results are also visually checked at the gate. This is all well and good for domestic travel within a country and to and from some US states with strict quarantine rules in effect like Hawaii. But what about international travel? When asked about vaccine policies, Air New Zealand said in an email, "Ultimately it's up to governments to determine when and how it is safe to reopen borders and we continue to work closely with authorities on this."

Police in Perth, Australia check an app-based travel pass verifying temperature checks on arrival.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade group for airlines, doesn’t take a position on vaccines but has been recommending testing (instead of quarantine) as a means of preventing transmission, reopening borders and thereby reviving the aviation industry. And the association is working on one more thing: a Digital Travel pass. Such a pass might be used globally to store and show COVID test reports and later perhaps even immunization cards.The IATA Travel Pass (currently under development) will offer information to passengers about global requirements, lab locations and types of tests, register approved labs for testing and vaccines and develop an app for them to securely share results with passengers and provide a digital passport with “OK to Travel” status recognized by airlines and governments. IATA has also taken into account privacy issues and says its pass will comply with global privacy regulations. They are hoping to make this a universal pass with global recognition.

Paper certificates of vaccination no longer meet current standards of legitimacy.

It seems to me that some “pass” like this in the form of an app will be the key going forward to enable airport staff and immigration authorities to verify health status as we travel and cross borders. It needs to be universally accepted and satisfy legitimate concerns verifying differing national health status forms existing in multiple languages and formats. Airlines and nations will need to be able to trust that a traveler’s record of a COVID test or vaccination administered in another country is legitimate and valid. Countries will also need the flexibility to update their health screening entry requirements as the pandemic evolves and science progresses.

Volunteers tested the CommonPass app on a United test flight from London in October.

One app gaining traction is CommonPass, developed by the Commons Project, a nonprofit focused on building technology for public use. They partnered with the World Economic Forum to build a more global digital health pass system for COVID-19 with their first target being international air travel. The resulting app provides digital access to health information, including vaccination records and lab results. It includes hundreds of health systems and hospitals along with accredited labs and other providers in the US and worldwide. United Airlines successfully tested the app on a flight from London to Newark in October. This was followed by another trial on a Cathay Pacific flight between Hong Kong and Singapore in November. Both trials were successful and in the near future, CommonPass will be available for JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss, United and Virgin Atlantic passengers flying from New York, Boston, London and Hong Kong.

Anything that facilitates safe travel, both domestically and internationally, will be embraced by the industry and the public. For my part, I’m eagerly looking forward to learning more about these “mobile digital health records” as they gain growing global acceptance. What are your thoughts? Would you welcome and engage with an app like this? Do you think it might be the answer to facilitating travel again without health concerns? Please let me know.

Until next time…stay safe.