What is Vaccine Tourism?
Vaccine Tourism is nothing but it means to travel to another country for sightseeing with an included benefit of getting the jab.
Previous week, the tiny central European Republic of San Marino welcomed its first vaccine tourists. It included a group of four from Latvia. These four people drove 26 hours in a camper van to reach San Marino where they became the first visitors to take advantage of the microstate’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine holiday package. Russia and Maldives are working on programmes in order to offer the people from abroad the chance to get vaccinated during a visit.
It was in the last year that in India, the term “Vaccine Tourism” got popular when the reports emerged from several tour operators offering packages to the US with the additional benefit of a vaccine shot.
Can Indians go abroad to get vaccinated for Covid-19?
Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel has told The Indian Express that, “There may be no need for anyone from India to go abroad for vaccination since all eligible Indians will be vaccinated in the country by the end of this year – that too, at the most reasonable rates possible.”
The idea of vaccine tourism is gaining momentum in India.Currently, if the air travel is allowed, then it is NOT ILLEGAL to travel abroad to get vaccinated.
The countries which have short supply of vaccines or certain groups are still restricted from being inoculated, those countries are seeing Vaccine Tourism as an emerging trend. There are only a few countries in the world (parts of the US, Russia, Slovakia, Zimbabwe etc) that don’t restrict their vaccination policy to local residents.
The Government of India is ensuring that no one has to go abroad to take the jab as they will be able to get everyone vaccinated by the end of this year.
Vaccine Passport
A vaccine passport is a certificate that has a record of health data of a person. It carries information about whether a person has been inoculated or has tested negative for Covid-19. This information can be electromagnetically accessible on mobile apps or as printed documents or cards.
Seychelles has recently announced that only vaccinated visitors from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who have completed two weeks after their second dose have the permission to travel and to enter the island nation along with proof of Covid-19 vaccination.
