Delayed rollout of COVID-19 vaccine will deter ability to travel abroad
Having to navigate the measures governments have put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 has made international travel an onerous task. There are many arduous requirements travellers must now comply with if they intend to travel to other countries.
Total travel bans on nationals from certain countries, COVID-19 PCR test result requirements and forced quarantines on arrival are some of the measures international travellers have to comply with when travelling to other countries.
These measures have transformed travel and tourism, which once was an attractive pastime for most people, into a daunting task.
VACCINE ROLLOUT STRATEGY ANNOUNCED
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize provided details of the government’s COVID-19 vaccine roll-out strategy in a presentation to Parliament on Thursday 7 January.
“To deal with the pandemic, the only protection is through vaccination,” Mkhize said.
Mkhize said South Africa would receive one million doses of the vaccine in January and a further 500,000 doses in February. These will be procured from the Serum Institute of India.
PHASED APPROACH TO VACCINATION
Vaccines will not be available immediately for the entire population. A prioritisation system will be implemented and vaccination will occur in three phases. Phase one will target 1.25-million people, and include public and private healthcare workers.
Phase two will target a larger portion of the population, including essential workers such as police officers; teachers and retail workers; people in prisons and shelters; persons aged 60 and older; and persons older than 18 with co-morbidities. This phase will vaccinate about 17-million people.
Phase three will focus on the remainder of the country’s population and persons under 18 years old. The government estimates that 40-million people will need to be vaccinated over a 12-month period.
DELAYED VACCINE ROLLOUT WILL HAMPER ABILITY TO TRAVEL
There are many requirements South Africans must comply with before being able to travel to other countries. Being vaccinated will make international travel less challenging than it currently is.
The fact that South Africa’s vaccination programme will be state-managed and rolled out according to a prioritisation strategy means the majority of South Africans who are most likely to travel will not be first in line to be vaccinated.
Negative PCR test result certificates and quarantines will therefore remain the standard requirements for South Africans who wish to travel to other countries if vaccinations are not possible as yet.
The current slump in demand for international travel indicates these measures do not facilitate international travel and tourism, but deter it.
COMPULSORY VACCINATION MAY BECOME NORM
Several countries have closed their borders to international visitors while the pandemic rages across the globe. There are already indications that several governments will insist that international visitors be vaccinated if they wish to enter their countries.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US, Dr Anthony Fauci, has said it is possible compulsory vaccination may become a requirement for international visitors wishing to enter the US.
Airlines may also push for vaccination certificates from passengers. Qantas, the national airline of Australia, indicated it was pushing for compulsory vaccination of passengers intending to travel on flights operated by the carrier.
“We are going to change our terms and conditions to say [to] international travellers… We will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said, as quoted in Business Insider.
BUILDING BRAND SOUTH AFRICA INTERNATIONALLY
The efficient rollout of vaccinations is expected to boost confidence and desire for travel and tourism. This will help to regenerate the ailing tourism sector.
If South Africa is swiftly able to halt the transmission of COVID-19 by achieving herd immunity, the country’s management of the pandemic could be seen as a success story, which will make South Africa more desirable on the international stage.
HERD IMMUNITY TO TAKE EFFECT
Given that the country has had one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world, with about a million infections and just over 30,000 fatalities, “success story” status is not impossible. The sooner South Africa is able to vaccinate its population, the sooner herd immunity can be attained.
“In terms of the department’s calculation, we need 67 to 70% of the population to be immunised to break the cycle of transmission – what is called the herd immunity,” Mkhize said.
Under the government’s current vaccination strategy, herd immunity will not be achieved until later in the year. Chairperson of the South African Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee, said it was unlikely the average South African would be vaccinated before the middle of 2021.
ANTI-VAXXERS WILL NOT BE FORCED
South Africans who do not wish to be vaccinated will not be forced. The government would like as many people as possible to be vaccinated, but Mkhize said people would not be forced to take the jab.
“The vaccine will be voluntary. We will try and urge as many people to take the vaccine. It is not mandatory but we need the community to understand that it is for their benefit and that is why they need to participate.”
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