COVID-19: Border Controls and Vaccine Passports
Border Controls
Norway abolishes testing requirement at border for all travelers
Indonesia opens Bali to all foreign travelers
Japan reduces self-quarantine for international arrivals to 7 days regardless of vaccination status
Vaccination and Travel
France bans tourists without booster jab
Netherlands to lift quarantine requirement for travelers who received a booster
Thailand restarts quarantine-free Test & Go program for vaccinated travelers
Philippines reopening to fully vaccinated travelers, quarantine-free
Indonesia cuts quarantine for fully vaccinated international travelers to 5 days
Belize to reopen land borders for fully vaccinated persons
Aruba scraps testing requirement for fully vaccinated travelers
Cayman Islands opens to families with children, adults to be fully vaccinated
Vaccination and Local Life
United States
US prepares vaccines for kids 6 months to 5 years old
North Carolina health panel rejects vaccine mandate for high school seniors
Virginia Tech drops vaccine mandate for students after dropping the requirement for employees
Boston vaccine mandate temporarily frozen by court
Virginia, West Virginia, Montana seek exemptions to vaccine mandate for healthcare workers
The Mississippi House passes legislation to prevent private companies from forcing their employees to get vaccination
Arizona bill may force employers to compensate workers fired for refusing vaccine
Colorado lifts vaccine mandate for large metro-area events
Las Vegas Metro Police end vaccine mandate for new employees
Philadelphia police officers required to begin vaccination process by Feb. 11
Pentagon halts vaccine mandate for civilian employees
US Army will begin dismissing vaccine holdouts
Defense secretary rejects requests for exemptions from vaccination mandates for National Guard troops
Automaker Stellantis to suspend vaccine mandate for US staff
T-Mobile and Disney set deadlines for employees to be fully vaccinated
Unvaccinated employees ‘separated’ from Hershey Company
Despite court ruling, most employers forging ahead with vaccine mandates
Vaccine mandate creates concern for agriculture as all non-U.S. citizens crossing the land border are now required to be vaccinated
Canada
Alberta’s Premier “confident” the province’s vaccine passport program will lift in March
Saskatchewan Premier announces that the province would abandon proof of vaccination requirements by March
Quebec scraps ‘vax tax’ for unvaccinated to maintain 'social peace'
Canada ends US travel exemption for B.C. residents - those traveling to US by land to pick up goods are required to fulfill all of Canada’s pre-entry, arrival, testing and quarantine rules
Europe
Switzerland considering ending most restrictions, including vaccine passports
Czech government plans to end Covid passes, easing measures for unvaccinated
Finland’s Minister: Covid-19 Passports’ use not justified under current situation
Sweden declines to recommend vaccinating kids under 12: ‘We don't see any clear benefit’
UK intends to scrap the vaccine mandate for NHS and social care staff
Austria's Constitutional Court demands detailed data from Health Ministry justifying the government's coronavirus response
Switzerland is set to vote on whether vaccination can be made compulsory. The rule would apply to all kinds of mandatory vaccination, not just for Covid-19
Italy introduces 100 euro fines for not vaccinated people 50+
Unvaccinated could lose unemployment benefits in Germany
3-year-old from Cyprus reportedly denied heart treatment in several countries because parents were unvaccinated
Asia
Israel to narrow usage of ‘Green Pass’ system - vaccine requirement will remain in effect only for weddings, clubs and large parties
New Zealand
Mainfreight has mandated its New Zealand staff to be vaccinated
Auckland council staff lose jobs over vaccine mandate
Companies may now legally fire employees for refusing vaccination
COVID-19 Domestic Stringency
Source: OurWorldInData
Vaccine Passports
Italy reduces length of vaccine certificate validity to 6 months, boosters will provide ‘unlimited’ validity
Vaccine passport in Brazil’s Espirito Santo state will require 3rd and 4th doses
Vaccine certificate validity for each Schengen/EU member state
In Other News
EU travel restrictions had little or no impact on Omicron spread, research finds
Lockdowns only reduced Covid-19 death rate by .2%, study finds
Countries requiring travelers to have boosters