AMSTERDAM – With the new Omicron variant filling the pages of all possible media around the world, leaving spaces for hours and hours of talk shows and interviews to fill, the European Countries are moving fast in the attempt of containing what many people around the world consider “a threat for our Christmas”. It is inevitable that the ones that are paying the cost of this from a monetary and mental point of view are the travelers, nowadays more and more on the various government websites rather than their Lonely Planet.
Despite the “prevention is better than curing” is generally a good approach, rushing to hard conclusions after 24 hours is just a fear reaction rather than a cognitive process.
An example is what Switzerland just announced yesterday evening in a tweet, stating that passengers coming from the Czech Republic, The Netherlands, the UK, Egypt, and Malawi needs to present a negative PCR test and go in quarantine for 10 days.
In just one tweet an entire country killed 50% of the Reasons to Believe – to use a marketing terminology – of the Covid vaccination/recovery certificate, creating an unpleasant precedent in the travel industry.
There are a few reasons why it’s the wrong choice and should be immediately revised:
- If you have a vaccination/recovery certificate you should be able to travel in Europe: this was and is still the rule in this part of the world and this guarantees that countries, despite soft lockdowns, can still recovery.
- You can’t make such a statement for only those who flies from Netherlands since it’s also a discrimination. It’s just by chance that Amsterdam has flight to and from South Africa, so why generalise and create burden for travellers that maybe wanted to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere in the Swiss Alps;
- You are scoring points for the No-Vax that now will be allowed to say that “nothing changed even with the vaccination”.
Looking back to 2020, today we are in a much better situation with vaccines and a little more freedom. However, it is still understandable that we are not out of the tunnel but for sure we see every day more and more light thanks to the support of science. So, instead of taking measures that can just bring Europe back to 2020, it is important to make sure that everything is pondered to the moment. There are many countries around the world that are adopting a mixed approach based on the following situation:
- PCR mandatory 72/48 hrs before departure and no quarantine for those who are vaccinated with two doses or have a vaccination recovery certificate;
- PCR mandatory 72/48 hrs before departure and quarantine for those who are not vaccinated or don’t have a vaccination recovery certificate.
The second one without the first one is impossible and it’s counterproductive also for the incentive to grow the vaccination rate across Europe. Fear should not win against science, let’s not go back to 2020, because we have made too many steps forward to start going backward at this point.
About Author
