Embracing the Great Outdoors

The future of travel remains up in the air as countries sort out exactly how immigration and travel procedures will work in the age of the Covid-19 vaccine. As of February 2021, many countries require proof of a negative Covid-19 test result up to 72 hours before traveling in order to travel internationally. According to the CDC, as of January 12, 2021, “all air passengers arriving to the US from a foreign country” are required to “get tested no more than 3 days before their fight departs and to present a negative result or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding the fight.” This proof of documentation will only strengthen in nature as the vaccine becomes available to the general public, which is expected to occur as early as the summer of 2021. Due to the fact that, according to the Mayo Clinic, “it takes about two weeks for your body to build up protection” after receiving both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, major corporations and healthcare organizations around the globe are working together to discern how proof of vaccination and incubation period will be presented in order to travel safely. Travel + Leisure emphasized the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), a coalition of major companies, such as Microsoft and the Mayo Clinic, that is working to create “a digital COVID-19 vaccination passport.” This “vaccination passport” would allow airlines and countries to determine whether or not a traveler should be allowed to enter fights and destinations, based on vaccination status. According to the offcial VCI website, “VCI coalition members are working to enable digital access to vaccination records using the open, interoperable SMART Health Cards specifcation,” and hope to “empower individuals to obtain an encrypted digital copy of their immunization credentials to store in a digital wallet of their choice.” For those who don’t have access to smartphones or similar devices, VCI states that people “could receive paper printed with QR codes containing W3C verifable credentials.” While the digital service is still in development, the travel industry hopes that the increased administration of the vaccine, coupled with the proof of vaccination by vaccinators, will help increase travel rates by summer. “As the world begins to recover from the pandemic, having electronic access to vaccination, testing, and other medical records will be vital to resuming travel and more,” said Mike Sicilia, executive vice president of Oracle’s Global Business Units, a company involved in the VCI development, on the offcial VCI website. “This process needs to be as easy as online banking,” stated Sicilia. “We are committed to working collectively with the technology and medical communities, as well as global governments, to ensure people will have secure access to this information where and when they need it.” Essentially, the travel-savvy person should become tech-savvy as well, as the future of Covid-19 vaccination proof is in the smartphone details. Despite the fact that it is not yet known if the vaccine prevents one from being contagious if infected with Covid-19, the “vaccination passport” appears to be the future of travel in the 21st century, as it will enable people around the world to travel with a 95% effectiveness in slowing the spread. While the future of travel is beginning to look brighter, there is still a wide array of questions that have yet to be answered, namely: how will the dispersal of the Covid-19 vaccine affect the experience of students in the fall of 2021? Speculation over plans for the fall semester surged as a hot topic amongst college communities nationally as universities prompted students to reserve housing and classes for the upcoming semester. In February 2021, one of the most popular posts on the “offcial unoffcial Boston University subreddit,” r/BostonU, regarded whether or not students should reserve on-campus housing for the fall semester. BU had yet to release information regarding the status of learning in the fall, despite rolling out the “Learn from Anywhere” program in the fall of 2020. With copious amounts of testing available for students, faculty and staff daily, students are prepared for another semester of twice-weekly Covid-19 testing and daily symptom surveys. Yet for international students, the return to campus poses much more of a risk, even with the presence of the vaccine. Vaccination is not guaranteed for the general public, much of which is composed of college-aged students, by the fall of 2021. In light of this, the travel industry and other businesses strongly affected by the travel industry, such as that of real estate in college towns and universities that depend on housing payments, need to remain fexible with refunds and payment deadlines. In order to stay ahead of the Covid-19 curve, hotels, airlines, boarding schools, universities and large-scale rental accommodations need to provide free Covid-19 testing and vaccination when the time comes. Despite the accruing of extra costs through Covid-19 accommodations, including the implementation of fexible cancellation and rescheduling policies, the only way for the travel industry (and every business linked to it) to rise from the ashes of the global pandemic is to remain fexible, remain calm and require the all-important proof of vaccination.