The first people in Germany have been vaccinated against the corona virus since the end of December.
But how does that affect traveling?
Can there be special rights?
Now that the first people are using the corona vaccine, the debate is breaking out in Germany as to whether people who have been vaccinated will receive preferential treatment in the future - for example, by no longer having to wear masks in public.
Numerous politicians vehemently oppose such special treatments, and yet it is already evident in the travel industry that non-vaccinated people have to reckon with disadvantages.
The Australian airline Qantas has already announced that it will only allow vaccinated people on board *.
Are hotels and airlines actually allowed to disadvantage customers who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus?
Corona: Hotels and airlines are allowed to exclude people without a vaccination
Freedom of contract allows hotels, airlines and shipping companies to choose for themselves with whom they want to conclude a contract and with whom not.
On this basis, for example, drunk people may be refused entry.
That is why it is theoretically possible to exclude those who have not been vaccinated, as lawyer Paul Degott explains to the
travel
reporter
: "Hotels or tour operators can also make use of the freedom of contract and say: 'I want to protect my guests, so only vaccinated people are allowed to book.' “If a booking has already been made, however, the operator is no longer allowed to withdraw from it.
In order to avoid such a division between vaccinated and non-vaccinated people, politicians are already discussing the need to make it
clear
in the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) that
a person's vaccination status is impermissible discrimination
.
According to politicians, a supplement to the German Civil Code (BGB) that regulates which general terms and conditions are permissible would also be conceivable.
However, it is currently not even certain whether people who have been
vaccinated are actually no longer contagious
.
In addition, companies that only allow vaccinated people are not particularly customer-friendly, as Degott notes: "Especially after Corona, they would only step on their own feet."
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Corona vaccination requirement when entering other countries
In the long term, the question arises whether
a corona vaccination certificate is mandatory
for
international travel
.
It is feared that there will be a “mandatory vaccination through the back door”.
It remains to be seen whether the antigen tests will be sufficient when entering the respective target country or whether proof of vaccination is required - and will probably differ from country to country.
"It wouldn't be new that I need a vaccination to enter certain countries," says tourism researcher Prof. Christian Laesser from the University of St. Gallen in a report by the German Press Agency - one example is yellow fever.
Travel doctor Tomas Jelinek from Berlin also believes it is likely that
many countries will make proof of vaccination a travel condition
.
There will also be airlines that will not let passengers on board without a Corona vaccination certificate.
What this proof will look like is still open.
"It makes sense to simply make a documentation in the existing
vaccination card," says Jelinek.
In addition, some kind of electronic documentation could be required because it is better protected against forgery.
(fk / dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network.
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