Eventually, the days where we can travel and roam freely again will return. With the development and distribution of vaccinations underway from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca, the tourism industry will surely see a spike in action. By the end of 2021, it’s estimated that sufficient vaccinations will be made to provide for more than one-third of the world’s population. That being said, travelers won’t be flocking to the airports any time soon, and traveling will not look the same as it used to. Moving forward, we’ll be seeing a lot more anxiety on people’s faces behind their masks. Not to mention a whole lot of hand sanitizer, mouthwash tests, and even the use of new technologies like immunity passports.
Post-Pandemic Travel Concerns
The fear of virus exposure is not going to dissipate as the year progresses. A National Geographic poll asked respondents how they would approach traveling in 2021. Only 24% answered that they expect to get on board a flight in 2021, and about a third of respondents said they wouldn’t feel comfortable traveling regardless of the lack of travel that happened for most of us in 2020. Many people who normally call themselves travelers will still choose to be prudent and stay home until they feel sufficiently safe.
Additionally, some may be wary of obtaining a vaccination. To gain control over the virus, the majority of people will need to be vaccinated in order to attain herd immunity. Herd immunity is achieved once a sufficient percentage of the population has protective antibodies in their systems. The level of herd immunity required to combat COVID-19 could be more than 85%, which means that the solution of herd immunity will not be an immediate development.
Not only are some people hesitant about getting the vaccine, but the distribution process in the U.S. is occurring at a slower pace than initially planned. At the end of 2020, the government did not make its goal of distributing 20 million vaccinations by the end of the year. The logistics behind distributing the vaccination is just another hindrance keeping us from traveling.
Yet another fear in regards to vaccinations is the ambiguity of whether or not vaccinated people can spread the virus. As the vaccines are relatively new, there is still not enough data to prove that someone who is vaccinated can’t spread the virus to someone else. So, these vaccines might be 95% effective, but there’s no evidence that they prevent asymptomatic transmission.
New Technology To Support The Travel Industry
Fortunately, the future of traveling is not all doom and gloom thanks to new emerging technologies that can help ensure a safe trip. For example, COVID PreCheck is a software platform that makes vaccine status available for travel. All the information regarding health and vaccination status is attached to a single personalized QR code, including self-assessment tests, lab results, and vaccine status in one package ready for scanning. A QR scanner for immunity passports can allow for travelers to safely be verified without the inconvenience of requiring a vaccine certification.
A major issue with renewing travel is making sure the chances of exposure do not increase. COVID PreCheck App gives travelers peace of mind knowing that the app is updated and uses a secure network to connect directly to health results. The individualized QR code is updated by doctors to prove whether an individual has been vaccinated.
Many flyers already use their phone to scan the QR code of their airplane ticket. If they are already presenting their plane tickets digitally, then this same method can be used to prove and inform others about your vaccination status. For those wanting to proceed with traveling this year regardless of the challenges, a digital health passport is a perfect solution that can help vacation-goers travel safely.
With the multiple vaccinations under distribution, it can be said that some of us are getting closer to resuming real vacation time. Be a diligent traveler and add COVID PreCheck as a means of ensuring the safety of yourself and others. To find out more about how COVID PreCheck works, visit the website, or download the app.
