Some European travel insurers warned that while COVID-19 vaccination is not currently needed to purchase a travel insurance policy for visiting European Union, it will become mandatory if the EU chooses to require the coronavirus shots for all incoming visitors.
According to EU insurer Europ Assistance, the firm would be far from the only travel insurer to require customers to get an experimental vaccine, which only received its emergency use authorization last week for the EU – a vow that has unsettled those who havenโt made up their mind about taking a jab.
French insurance provider AXA warned thatย โif customers havenโt been inoculated, they will not be coveredโย for travel to EU countries that mandate vaccination.
However, they stressed the decision was ultimately up to European regulators.ย โIf there is no requirement from the entering country, we cannot enforce that people have had the vaccine,โย a spokespersonย toldย the International Travel and Health Insurance Journal on Monday. The Pfizer-BioNTech jab became the first Covid-19 vaccine to receive emergency use authorization for Europe just last week.
As far back as April, SchengenVisaInfo wasย warningย thatย โonce the risks from the pandemic are reducedโฆ member states will start asking for additional documentsโย regarding travelersโ health in order to enter the EU. That initially referred to proof of a negative Covid-19 test, with the possibility of a vaccine still hovering in the uncertain future. However, the media hasย admittedย testing methods arenโt nearly as accurate as they were initially portrayed, all while pumping up the multiple experimental vaccines hitting the market with promises of 95 percent success rates.
Global air travel organizations like IATA have revealed they are hard at work on aย โTravel Passโย app that will track travelersโ vaccination status across borders, and airlines like Australiaโs Qantas and the Philippinesโ Cebu Pacific have already declared they will require proof of vaccination for passengers on international flights.
The World Economic Forum and the Rockefeller Foundation have already begun testing of their ownย โCommonPassโย health passport, which seems to have the backing of airline trade groups like Oneworld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam.
However, privacy advocates and even some travel industry lobbyists have warned that vaccine passports would spell the death of both civil liberties and the tourism industry. World Travel and Tourism Council lobbyist Gloria Guevara recently warned that if governments begin requiring vaccination for international travel, it willย โkill their sectorโย โ which has already suffered a $3.8 trillion financial blow due to countries closing down their borders amid the coronavirus pandemic.
EU health officials initially criticized the UKโs rush to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 jab, vowing they would wait until December 29 to decide whether to authorize it on an emergency basis. However, the European Medicines Agency advanced the date, supposedly after receivingย โadditional dataโย from the vaccine producer โ and heaps of criticism from member governments like Germany that insisted they be allowed toย โstart vaccinating this year.โ
The EMA and the European Commission subsequently sped up their evaluation timetable, approving the jab last week. Franceโs health regulator followed suit days later while praising the jabโsย โefficacy and its satisfactory tolerance profileโย even in elderly patients.