NEWS! Qantas Airline May Require COVID-19 Vaccine for International Travel

Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna have recently announced their COVID-19 vaccines have proven to have 95% effectiveness.

©Qantas Airlines

The nation is highly anticipating the vaccines and making room for the medication at major hospitals. According to the Guardian, Qantas Airline will set strict vaccination guidelines once Australia’s version of the vaccine is available to the public.

Alan Joyce, Chief Executive of Qantas, announced during an interview that once the vaccine is distributed, the Australian international airline will be “looking at changing our terms and conditions to say for international travelers, that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft.”

©The Guardian – Photographer: Joel Carrett/AAP

Joyce described that this decision will be made further down the line once the vaccine is widely distributed. Details regarding the proof of the vaccination will be dependent on technological advancements. Joyce stated that “What we’re looking at is how you can have the [proof of] vaccination in an electronic version of a passport that certifies what the vaccine is, if it’s acceptable the country you’re travelling to.”

In an interview, Joyce observed that “…with the levels of the virus in the United States and in Europe, we’re not going to see operations to those destinations in any real strength until we see a vaccine being rolled out, which is likely towards the end of 2021.” A vaccine may become mandatory for those traveling outside the country using the Qantas airline. This could affect United States airlines to follow in the same path.