Governments should adopt new WHO COVID recommendations: IATA

Governments have been urged to adopt new World Health Organization guidance that recommends against requiring proof of vaccinations as a mandatory condition of entry to a country. The International Air Transport Association described WHO guidelines released July 2 as “common sense, risk-based recommendations" that would allow international air travel to resume. In addition to not requiring a COVID vaccine certificate as a mandatory entry condition, WHO recommends removing measures such as testing and quarantine measures for vaccinated travelers. READ: Alarming survey highlights need to vaccinate aviation workers. It calls on governments to ensure alternative pathways using PCR and rapid antigen tests for international travelers who are unvaccinated and regular reviews of testing and quarantine measures to ensure they are lifted when no longer necessary. The WHO has been pushing a risk-based approach throughout the pandemic but the call was mostly ignored by politicians battling rising COVID hospitalization and fatality rates. Some countries with higher vaccination rates are now taking a more flexible view but lockdowns are still occurring in others, particularly with the arrival of the more virulent delta variant of the disease. “As WHO notes—and as the latest UK testing data proves—international travelers are not a high-risk group in terms of COVID-19. Out of 1.65 million tests carried out on arriving international passengers in the UK since February, only 1.4 percent were positive for COVID-19,’’ IATA director-general Willie Walsh siad. “It’s long past time for governments to incorporate data into risk-based decision-making process for re-opening borders. “The pandemic has put more than 46 million jobs, normally supported by aviation, at risk. “By incorporating these latest WHO recommendations into their border opening strategies, states can begin to reverse the economic damage of the past 18 months and put the world on the road to recovery, “ The Who said important developments since its last international travel recommendations in December 2020, including the emergence of variants, increased knowledge and evidence about the effectiveness of public health and social measures and the increasing levels of protection from vaccines. Other recommendation included a need to publicly communicate “in a timely and adequate manner” the importance of personal protective measures while traveling and changes to international travel rules.