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Updated Travel Photos

Calaf

I suppose the purpose of the photos showing a hostess serving champagne while wearing a mask, along with TDs and guests also wearing masks, is designed to convey a sense of safety and security. Perhaps they do, depending on your outlook. I find them depressing and off-putting. Travel under these conditions is the guarantee of an unpleasant experience.

Comments

British

I’m just watching the latest theories on summer travel on the TV.
Does anyone see Tauck asking for all travelers to have been fully vaccinated in order to take a Tauck tour? After all, if someone on a tour contracts Covid, that would mean everyone being in quarantine and possibly the tour being terminated. Since most Tauck customers appear to be over 65, by the time Tours are likely to resume, according to our president, anyone in that age range should have had the opportunity to be vaccinated.
Wondering what people think of theTauck requirement of them wanting a negative test 5 days before a tour when most airlines or countries require a 3 day test.....does that mean we have to get tested twice?
Weeks ago, my husband and I were tested within minutes of each other and yet our results came 14 hours apart. I haven looked into any testing for travel, we went to an Urgent Care facility. Has anyone gotten tested before travel yet?

Claudia Sails

The Tauck requirement on testing says "within 5 days" so certainly you could just wait to match the airlines requirement. I just received a Summary of Purchase for our Douro river cruise next year and that's a quote from it.

No mention of vaccines. I don't believe it would be a Tauck requirement unless it's a requirement for the country you're traveling to.

I'll get a vaccine, a test, wear a mask, whatever. I just want to see something besides my couple of acres and Costco.

Sealord

Tauck could change that if the vaccination roll out works well enough. Twenty-five percent of the people in our county have had at least one shot. On the other hand, vaccination was not a condition of travel when we bought our tours, so that could be a bump in the road if they wanted to make that a ‘condition’ now. Some who have not been vaccinated will still want to travel.

BKMD

I'm sure the travel/testing policy will change over time. There's no reason to test people who have been vaccinated.
Unlike Claudia, I will not travel internationally and wear a mask. There's plenty to do domestically/locally. I have my first shot tomorrow and am already planning a local (Colorado) trip this summer, hiking, biking, etc.

Claudia Sails

Bkmd, our Switzerland trip has been in the planning and dreaming for over 2 years so I'm going if it happens. Those mountains will be beautiful with or without a mask. If it was a river cruise I might have a different feeling.

terrilynn

BKMD and cathyandsteve - I'm a nurse and got vaccinated in December, but remember, being vaccinated doesn't prevent you from getting or transmitting COVID -- you can and will still get COVID after you're vaccinated if you don't continue to wear a mask and distance.

This vaccine is a mRNA vaccine - it's a PROTEIN REPLICA of the COVID VIRUS == so if you get COVID after being vaccinated, the protein replica you got when vaccinated (mRNA) recognizes the COVID virus and attacks it, so you won't get AS SICK and YOU WON'T DIE from it. But you still HAVE COVID and you can still TRANSMIT COVID - that is why they want us tested. We won't die, but we can transmit it to someone who hasn't been vaccinated and they could die/or get VERY ILL.

I don't want to travel internationally with a mask either, so I have postponed trips to late 2022.

Sealord

We have done ‘mask’ travel three times during the pandemic. All three trips were to Yosemite in the last eight months. It is only a four hour drive for us. The valley and the Ahwahnee Hotel are in Mariposa County which is California code red which means everything is open at reduced capacity. We stay at the Evergreen which is in Tuolomne County which is code purple so much more is restricted and you dine outdoors with no table service.
I think it is helpful to do some local travel to see if the protocols are a bother to you and how much. We only wore masks when near other people, and of course not while eating or drinking. Access to the park was limited so parking was never a problem. The change of scene was so worth it, that we were not bothered much by the protocols.

British

I thought there was mounting evidence that the vaccine was likely to stop you transmitting Covid....but I’m certainly going to keep wearing my mask and distancing.

Sealord

I have read that many medical experts think the vaccine will also keep you from being a spreader, but it will be a few months before they can establish that as fact ... or not.

The International Air Transport Association is developing an ‘app’ to upload a picture of your vaccine card to a database where they will check it for validity. Vaccine ‘passports’ are in the works, and there are a number of countries that are welcoming travelers who can prove they are vaccinated. Belgium, Germany and France are on the short list of places more cautious. Other than the UK, the vaccine rollout in Europe is not going well.

British

I based my comments on the evidence that is coming out of Israel which is getting to 100% vaccinated
We may have a lot to thank them for when it comes to real evidence and time lines

AlanS

cathyandsteve
8:42PM
. . . . . . We have to have a negative test 72 hours before we leave...we are there a week...and have to have another negative test 72 hours before we leave. This is utterly ridiculous. I will follow the rules...but I still think it is redundant to have fully vaccinated people tested twice in one week.

I hate to disagree, but despite you being inoculated and following best practices, what about getting exposed to another carrier before, during, or after your stay don't you understand? Yes, you will probably not get sick or at least not get sick to the point of hospitalization, but you can still become a carrier. But think about all the others in your resort, at the airports, or on your flight who may or may not have been vaccinated or weren't as careful. The rules, whatever they are, must be applied evenly to everyone.

Even if you get tested, 72 hours prior, it doesn't take much for you to be exposed and become infected, so the 72 hours is obviously an educated(?) trade-off that everyone must accept. Researchers estimate that people who get infected with the coronavirus can spread it to others 2 to 3 days before symptoms start and are most contagious 1 to 2 days before they feel sick. The alternative is not to fly, having the airlines prevent you from flying, or having the US not allow you to re-enter the country. Remember, also, this is all a work in progress and the rules will change as the situation evolves.

British

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine greatly reduces virus transmission, two Israeli studies have found, shedding light on one of the biggest questions of the global effort to quash the pandemic.
Data analysis in a study by the Israeli Health Ministry and Pfizer Inc found the Pfizer vaccine developed with Germany’s BioNTech reduces infection, including in asymptomatic cases, by 89.4% and in syptomatic cases by 93.7%.

Findings of the pre-published study, not yet peer-reviewed, but based on a national database that is one of the world’s most advanced, were first reported by the Israeli news site Ynet late on Thursday and were obtained by Reuters on Friday.

Pfizer declined to comment and the Israeli Health Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

A separate study by Israel’s Sheba Medical Center published on Friday in The Lancet medical journal found that among 7,214 hospital staff who received their first dose in January, there was an 85% reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 within 15 to 28 days with an overall reduction of infections, including asymptomatic cases detected by testing, of 75%.

More research is needed to draw a definitive conclusion, but the studies are among the first to suggest a vaccine may stop the spread of the novel coronavirus and not just prevent people getting ill.

Michal Linial, a professor of molecular biology and bioinformatics at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, said the findings were a big step towards answering one of the most important questions in combating the pandemic.

“Whether it is 75 or 90 percent reduction doesn’t matter - it is a big drop in transmission,” Linial said. “It means that not only is the individual vaccinated protected, the inoculation also provides protection to his or her surroundings.”

The researchers said further study was needed on asymptomatic transmission among people fully vaccinated because they are less likely to be tested for COVID-19.

Vaccine developers have also said more research was needed on transmissibility. In December, Germany’s BioNTech said it would take three to six months more study.

British

Also, from DW breaking world news.
The latest findings on the vaccine's effectiveness also come from insurance data from Maccabi, one of the four public health insurance companies that insure Israelis. The data were published by the Times of Israel.
Data were collected one week after the second dose — i.e., at the time when the vaccination is presumed to have already developed its full protective effect.
Of the 523,000 people insured, only 544 contracted SARS-CoV-2 after the second dose. This corresponds to a proportion of 0.1%. Of the 544 infected, 15 required hospitalization. Of those patients, eight had only mild symptoms, three had moderate symptoms and only four suffered a severe course. Not a single person died as a result of COVID-19.
The health insurance company compared the data collected with 628,000 unvaccinated insured persons, 18,425 of whom became infected during the same period. From this, Maccabi calculates that the vaccine was 93% effective

AlanS

You are correct, you will probably never be 100% protected, but it may be you will only exhibit mild symptoms and effects similar to a common cold and not require hospitalization, but you may still be able to transmit the virus to others! As British pointed out, the level of transmission may be significantly reduced. Again, it will be a judgement call made by those in the health community and governments and the call will change as things evolve.

It will eventually get to the point where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (famous Vulcan quote )- Even if infected, it may be acceptable to be in close contact and possibly even transmit the virus to others, because most of them will also be inoculated. Then it will be the ones who are not inoculated and/or who have some other health issue who are forbidden to travel for their own safety, not that of others. Hang in there, this too shall pass!