Vaccination vacations? It’s a thing
There is a painful irony in writing this column when you’re in lockdown.
There is a painful irony in writing a Departure Lounge column when you’re in lockdown. “Departure” from Sydney, let alone my home suburb, is looking unlikely for weeks. Meanwhile, the “lounge” is getting quite a workout, along with the TV, Wi-Fi, kitchen, wine rack and the dog.
My husband is watching forlornly as a ski holiday to New Zealand, rescheduled from 2020, goes south – again – having just had an outback camping expedition curtailed seven hours in to the drive west.
He and I are one jab away from being fully vaccinated, but still we’re going nowhere. From Monday, inoculated travellers from Britain will have an extensive list of quarantine-free destinations to choose from, Croatia, Portugal, Greece and France among them. And did you watch Wimbledon? The UEFA Euro final? All those people, unmasked (and, disconcertingly in some cases at Wembley, shirtless). This is our future, once sufficient numbers of us have had our injections (and the weather warms up, if that’s your thing).
Businesses and health authorities around the world have come up with all manner of incentives to encourage people to get the jab. Rewards have ranged from cartons of eggs (China) to cash payments (Serbia) to beer (here) and doughnuts (the US). In the state of Ohio, people who rolled up their sleeve were in the running to win $US1m ($1.34m), while for those under 18, five four-year college scholarships were up for grabs.
Remember the trend for cosmetic tourism when you could, say, nip over to Thailand for a nip and tuck and return to Australia looking 10 years younger, or permanently surprised? Well, get ready for vaccination vacations.
The US territory of Guam has devised an “Air V&V” scheme whereby Taiwanese can fly in, get vaccinated (“Will that be Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson with your pina colada, madam?”) and enjoy a vacation of up to three weeks. Two birds, one stone, so to speak. About three-quarters of the Micronesian island has had their medicine and the government decided to make use of abundant vaccines while giving the tourism industry a much-needed shot in the arm. Meanwhile, less than 1 per cent of Taiwan’s population is vaccinated because of a critical shortage of those little glass vials. No wonder the V&V packages sold out.
There’s been talk of Bali and The Maldives launching similar incentives to get tourists back in their hotels and resorts, though Indonesia may not be the safest bet right now.
When it comes to incentives, surely Australians, especially in NSW and Victoria, have all they need. We want to get off the lounge and depart.