Will proof of vaccination be required to go to events or travel?

The start of the Covid-19 vaccination opens the door for event organizers to demand it as a requirement to access them, according to insurer ARAG. The entity recalled that the Government has announced that vaccinated people will have a card certifying it, and in theory, this document could open the door making it mandatory to present it at certain events or places.

The insurers mentioned the case of Andalusia, where the president of the region, Juanma Moreno, said on December 19th that there will only be two ways to go to football matches or events with crowds, either with a negative PCR test made 72 hours before the event, or by being vaccinated.

As for schools, vaccinations are not compulsory in minors, although there are situations in the past in which a court order has been presented to make it so. ARAG gives the example of the measles virus outbreak in a Public School in the Albaicín neighborhood in Granada last year. In that case, several parents of students refused to vaccinate their children, preventing them from containing the virus. Due to this "The Ministry of Health of the Junta de Andalucía forced minors to be vaccinated to protect others," explained Alicia Delgado, ARAG lawyer.

With regard to admission to educational centres, some recent judgments have ruled in favour of schools that have rejected unvaccinated children on the understanding that parents were not taking into account the health of the rest of the students.

With regard to professionals who work with the elderly or health workers, who are in direct contact with risk groups, ARAG does consider that there could be a basis for imposing certain measures such as changing jobs so as not to put into risk to vulnerable population.

On the other hand, it states that “the obligation to get vaccinated in the workplace is a very delicate and debatable issue”. However, a company could make vaccines available to its workers on a voluntary basis, but could not require mandatory vaccination. But, "It could quite easily happen that companies stipulate vaccination as one of the criteria for applicants of jobs,” the ARAG lawyer clarified.

Regarding travel, airlines are already talking about proof of vaccination for international flights in the future for the protection of other passengers and their staff, and see it as the only long term solution for the re-activation of the travel industry.