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Where you'll likely need a vaccine passport, where you won't - YAHOO NEWS
From sporting events to international travel, it may become more common for businesses and countries to start asking people to show proof of vaccination. Find out where you'll need a vaccine passport here.
AMA DAETZ: This week, as part of our efforts to build a better Bay Area, we're focusing on Bay Area tourism, how it's changed through the pandemic and how it's bouncing back this summer. An index-sized card that more than half of you have right now could be your key to a hassle-free experience.
DAN ASHLEY: Yeah, we're talking about your vaccine card, your vaccine passport. "7 On Your Side's" Michael Finney looks at how it might come in handy.
MICHAEL FINNEY: I hope everybody hung onto their card. You're going to need it. And if you've received at least one COVID shot, a medical professional likely handed you your vaccine passport. Now, here's where you'll need it and where you likely won't.
From sporting and other live events to international travel and even some college campuses, having proof of vaccinations, even if not mandatory, will make your life easier.
SCOTT KEYES: What they're saying with the vaccine passport is, essentially, creating not a do not enter sign, but a fast lane for folks who have been vaccinated.
MICHAEL FINNEY: Scott Keyes of Scott's Cheap Flights says that vaccine passport means not having to go into quarantine or undergo testing to fly to Hawaii and many other countries. Airlines flying overseas will likely ask for proof of travel eligibility. Sharon Pinkerton is with the trade group Airlines of America.
SHARON PINKERTON: And that means either a vaccine or potentially-- again, only in the context of international travel-- can demonstrate that they've had a negative COVID test.
MICHAEL FINNEY: Trader Joe's and Walmart are among the first retailers to ease the mask mandate for customers in locations where local ordinances will allow it. Mike LeFever is the CEO of the risk management consultancy firm Concentric. He predicts retailers will enforce the new rules much the same way they are enforced at live sporting events.
MIKE LEFEVER: And it's all about, you know, I think, managing risk for the individual or mitigating risk, what they feel comfortable with.
MICHAEL FINNEY: Cruise lines may be the next big industry to require vaccine passports. Stewart Chiron, also known as The Cruise Guy, is a consultant for the cruise industry. Chiron doesn't think cruises will resume out of California until late fall or early winter.
STEWART CHIRON: The cruise lines that are sailing from those ports are requiring all passengers and crew to be fully vaccinated at this point.
MICHAEL FINNEY: Will the use of vaccine passports expand beyond any of this? The airline industry says no.
SHARON PINKERTON: We, essentially, don't believe somebody should be required to have a vaccine in order to travel.
MICHAEL FINNEY: Employers are also unlikely to require proof of vaccination, except in a few limited areas.
MIKE LEFEVER: Again, based on the industry, if it is-- involved, you know, close interaction and social interaction, I foresee that there may be a requirement.
MICHAEL FINNEY: For those who decide they won't get vaccinated, they may have to live with the consequences.
MIKE LEFEVER: Here's a decision that you may have made that these are the impacts, based on your decision.
MICHAEL FINNEY: The US Travel Association encourages everyone to get fully vaccinated.
TORI BARNES: We're actively encouraging folks to get the COVID vaccine as soon as possible. We think that that's the best way to move this country forward.
MICHAEL FINNEY: The first cruise out of a US port will be on Celebrity out of Fort Lauderdale into the Caribbean. It's at the end of this month. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have announced cruises from Seattle to Alaska that will begin in July. Now, our experts say the use of COVID passports could expand further if any COVID variants take hold and we see another surge in the cases. You get a surge, you're going to start using that card more and more. That's what the experts think.
DAN ASHLEY: OK. Let's hope we don't have to use it.
MICHAEL FINNEY: Yeah.
DAN ASHLEY: Michael, thank you.