PHOENIX – Do you hope to travel this year? With more COVID-19 tests and vaccines, some are already making travel plans for the coming months.
But what will travel look like in the future?
Scott Keyes of Scott’s Cheap Flights says it could include on-site testing.
“In the airport parking lot with quick test locations, so you can show up and get tested. You could get results in 15 minutes,” said Keyes.
At present, different countries have different testing and quarantine requirements.
A negative COVID test is required to enter the United States.
While there has been discussion about negative tests required for domestic travel, this has been ruled out so far.
Keyes thinks that for many countries the game changer is the vaccine.
“Yes, we are going to allow people who have been vaccinated to bypass normal testing or quarantine requirements,” he said this could be an option.
While American tourists still cannot travel to most European Union countries, Iceland, Cyprus, and Poland now allow visitors from some countries with proof of vaccination.
And how would you show that evidence?
Keyes said it could be a vaccine passport. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is developing one called a “travel pass”.
It is a phone app that allows you to see a country’s COVID requirements and save and share test results and vaccine information.
IBM’s “health pass” continues. The website says the pass can also be used for “large-scale events such as a game, concert, or amusement park.”
The country of Bahrain has already developed a vaccine passport. Denmark, Sweden and other countries are talking about it.
The vaccine passports would also be available on paper.
There has been some backlash with some calling passports unfair to countries waiting for vaccines.