Vaccination May Become a Requirement for Air Travel

Some airlines have issued notice asking customers going from epidemic-hit Guangdong Province to Beijing to receive at least one dose before boarding, indicating that Chinese authorities and airlines are researching methods to make vaccination a condition for domestic travel. Later, the requirement was removed.

On Wednesday, social media posts and images claimed China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines had issued instructions requiring passengers flying from Shenzhen to Beijing to receive at least one COVID-19 vaccine jab, as well as a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 48 hours of boarding. But the notices were later removed for unknown reasons.

China Southern Airlines employees in Shenzhen said that the notice was issued after Guangdong authorities ordered the airlines to enforce the "highest standards" in epidemic prevention and control policy by verifying passengers' vaccination status before boarding flights from Shenzhen to Beijing, starting Thursday.

However, following new orders from local anti-epidemic prevention and control offices, the airlines removed the notices and stopped the policy, according to a Southern Airlines employee. The notification was just "suspended for now," according to the staffer, and new rules could alter at any time.

On Wednesday, Hainan Airlines issued a similar notification, but it was later removed at the request of appropriate anti-epidemic authorities, the reason for the withdrawal is unknown.

Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that "administering COVID-19 vaccine as one of requirements for boarding airplanes is a trend for both domestic and international travel. I believe it is paving the way for China to adopt vaccine passport in the future."

When asked what the optimum timeframe for implementing this policy is, Zeng stated it may take some time for key authorities to cooperate because such a policy should be implemented across the entire country. Shenzhen's notice was suspended due to possible technological issues, according to Zeng.

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Source: Global Times

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