If you want to travel you will need to be vaccinated

If you want to travel you will need to be vaccinated, it really is that simple. Today Canada was the latest country to announce an end to quarantine for nationals returning to the country, on the provision that they have received the Covid-19 vaccine. The news follows on from a number of other countries that have announced similar measures, from the least visited country in Europe, Moldova, to the tourist mecca of Iceland, not to mention the resumption of the cruise industry, also for those who have been vaccinated.

To read about how the cruise industry has opened to tourism click here.

A negative PCR test will no longer be enough to travel in the long term

Many countries currently insist on a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of your entry in the country, this was initiated as a way to jump-start travel at a time when very few people had yet to receive the vaccine. Essentially it was the least-worst way to open up to limited tourism, prior to the mass-vaccination programs that were put in place in most of the rich countries of the world, such as the USA, UK, Israel and the EU.

What many countries are slowly starting to do is to replace, and, or remove the PCR test in favor of you having been vaccinated. A clear example of this is Romania, one of the first countries to open up to vaccinated travelers. The current Romanian policy is that if you have been vaccinated you are welcome to stay in the country, if you merely provide a negative PCR test (taken within 72 hours) then you are required to leave the country within 48 hours of arrival. Iceland again have done similar, welcoming people that have either been vaccinated, or can prove they have already had the virus.

To read about which countries are open to travel click here .

Weird Science

There are many strange elements to the feelings of many that are refusing too either wear masks, or be vaccinated, but they tend to usually come from the right-wing, or fringe elements of society. Again there is far from catch all for this and obviously not every view involves ludicrous conspiracy theories, but it is quite amazing how many people either quote science, or freedoms with regards to not having the vaccine.

To read about how normal life was in Cambodia click here

From a science post of view many people quote that the vaccine is still too new, or various other theories, theories one can mostly assume come from Facebook groups. Essentially unless you are a scientist, or someone heavily involved in the vaccination world your opinion really is not very important.

What has vaccinations got to do with your freedoms?

The freedom, or democracy element is also one that I find quite simply fascinating. Perhaps I have spent too much time in countries such as China, Cuba, North Korea and now Cambodia, but the general consensus tends to be that the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. Just as your free speech does not mean you can run into a movie theatre and shout “fire” thus establishments and even countries have the right to say if you may enter.

Vaccine Passports are nothing new

There is also a very strange misconception that somehow proof of vaccinations is somehow something new when it comes to the travel industry. They are not. Many countries have required vaccinations from everything from Yellow Fever to Measles in order to enter, with you not even being allowed to board a flight without one.

Those on the fringe will keep saying that there will be herd immunity and the restrictions cannot last forever and the like, but these are also the same people that were posting how Covid-19 was basically the same as the cold last year. Remember those posts and remember them well.