Is it possible to travel responsibly (during a pandemic)?

[uncfnp]

Pfizer vaccine shows 94% effectiveness against asymptomatic transmission of COVID

It’s confirmed what many suspected.

 

[Centrals]

Over last several months there have been many threads in SB saying that he/she should be allowed to travel for whatever reasons they could give!
New Zealand, Republic of China(Taiwan) and Vietnam have done very well because they have a very tough policy to admit anyone in.
Look at Hong Kong and we still imported the infected person nearly everyday!

Vaccination is probably the only way out but until the majority of the world population has taken the shot, unnecessary travelling should be avoided not for oneself but for the others.

CONSIDERATION is the word.

 

[O-ring]

Yep. I pre-registered for the vaccine, but we're still working through the groups that include first responders, nursing homes, people with underlying health issues, seniors, etc. I'm part of some follow on wave that nobody knows when it will start. I shot an email to Liveaboard.com asking if they would get with Aggressor and see if I could postpone my voucher for another 3-6 months until I can get a vaccine. Fingers crossed..

No luck. 50% refund per their standard cancellation policy and I can rebook. No extension.

 

[Centrals]

Coronavirus: Taiwan fines man US$33,000 for breaking quarantine rule | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP

Mass testing, alerts and big fines: the strategies used in Asia to slow coronavirus
HK is NOT actually doing too well under carrie lam. she is only good to kowtow to Peking!

Talking about stupid people in HK? We have plenty!
Surprise checkpoints at To Kwa Wan uncovers 65 residents who violated testing order
Tip of an iceberg. Many similar cases and I believe the record is 150 in one tower block!!!!
If the fine is US$33,000.00 I am pretty sure they would had taken the test without delay!

 

[Miyaru]

Yesterday I watched a travel program on tv. People living and working in tourist destinations were interviewed in video calls. In many remote areas, exposure to SARS-CoV-2 has been minimal, so these people are afraid of the virus coming their way once travel will start again.

Considering that the elderly and high-risk groups are being vaccinated first, this is likely also the first group which will be allowed to travel and visit these destinations.

...
Vaccination is probably the only way out
...

That's what the governments tell you and what the pharmaceutical industry tells you. The real way out is having a healthy working immune system, which can successfully eradicate the virus, either by being exposed to the virus followed by a full recovery, or by receiving a vaccination boost with hopefully the same effect (we'll now in 2023 when the vaccine studies will be completed).

Luckily, scuba diving is a pretty demanding sport when it comes to health. So the majority on the board here will be healthy enough to travel in the near future, armed with a working immune system, without too much risk for those working at your destination.
Unless.....the vaccine doesn't boost your immune system and you don't produce antibodies. In that case, you're exposing yourself to virus mutations at your holiday destination. But fortunately, we're all healthy divers.

 

[Centrals]

Totally disagreed.
1. In many tourists visiting areas they are crying out for tourists.
2. I am not too convinced that those two mentioned groups will be too eager to travel.
3. There is NO evidence to suggest that the vaccine will give life long protection eg. flu vaccine.
4.
Experts Answer the Biggest COVID Vaccine Questions
"not sure if vaccinations will reduce transmission"

Far too many assumptions. But you have every right to give your own opinion.

In the mean time I am just staying put and watch and of course hoping for the best. What else can I do in a situation like this with so many questions without known answers?

 

[100days-a-year]

One suggestion for any chance of having a sincere conversation on any medical issue and particularly covid is to NOT link to ABC,AP, BBC,Breitbart,CNN,Fox, Huffpost or any other propaganda sites but to cite actual medical texts or studies. It risks muddying the water with political overtones and bias, which are inescapable anymore.
Here's my go to covid - Search Results - PubMed

 

[divinh]

People tend to worry or pretend to worry about long term effects that are in alignment with their worldviews.
What are the long term financial implications of shutdowns on third world countries that rely on money from first world countries that has dried up?
What are the long term effects of the vaccines?
What are the long term effects of shutdowns on mental health and addictions?
What are the effects of travel bans on human rights organizations ability to monitor abuses?
Jumping on the moral high ground has become an almost Olympic sport during covid for people on both sides and it seems like no one takes even the slightest interest in examining all the potential for harm for any action they personally take only those of others.

It does seem that countries that immediately locked down hard contained the virus much better. Had everyone done that, then there wouldn't be this concern over/of long-term impacts on tourism, mental health or vaccines.

SARS, MERS, Ebola were contained before they became huge problems.

NZ showed that two months of hard lockdown let them go back to normal six months later. Taiwan showed that restricted travel allowed them to just use mask as a preventive measures.

It was the arguments about financial impacts that got us here, to limp along, opening and closing over and over again, as the surges happened and waned, and we became that much more reliant on vaccines getting us out of this situation. Had we all spent two months to contain it, would we be worried over long-term tourism, mental illness, vaccines, etc? Two months was too much of an ask then and we got a year+. Is two months still too much of an ask now?

 

[divinh]

It is interesting how the different areas of the US have different time frames for the vaccine. Just this morning I heard that a nearby county has opened up their vaccine to group 4 and here in NC you are not restricted to your county.

In California, we still haven't gotten through 1b and I suspect that these group sizes in CA are much bigger than in other States, thus the different time frames even though 79% of delivered vaccines have been administered. It's probably the same for various counties.

 

[Joneill]

NZ showed that two months of hard lockdown let them go back to normal six months later.

So... you think it’s “normal” to keep your country walled off from the outside world? Sorry, but they are far from “back to normal”.