Qantas CEO says Covid-19 vaccinations will be mandatory for overseas travellers

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has said that both international travellers visiting the country and people departing Australia will need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before they board the aircraft under the new terms and conditions that will be implemented across the airline.

Joyce spoke on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair program on Monday night, telling host Tracy Grimshaw that proof of vaccination for international travellers will be a “necessity” going forward – once a vaccine has been approved.

“We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say for international travellers, we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft,” he said.

“Whether you need that domestically, we will have to see what will happen with Covid-19 and the market. But certainly for international visitors coming out and people leaving the country, we think that’s a necessity.”

#BREAKING: QANTAS CEO confirms that proof that you've been vaccinated for COVID-19 will be compulsory for international air travel onboard his aircraft. #9ACA pic.twitter.com/dhk3Hsnxn9

— A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) November 23, 2020

Reactions from the travelling community were split down the middle over the controversial statement, with some agreeing that mandatory vaccinations were the way to go, and others strongly disagreeing with the move.

One commenter who was in favour of the announcement argued that the new measures should be implemented in other areas as well as aircrafts: “Those [who] choose not to vaccinate for Covid should be registered, and the majority of people should not be [put] at risk by the minority. This includes the rights of businesses to refuse entry as well.”

However, another commenter responded saying that the whole thing seemed unfair: “Absolutely ridiculous holding us to ransom if we don’t get [the] vaccine. What is the difference in just getting a Covid test to prove you don’t have it if you want to fly with them; it shouldn’t make any difference to them.”

Meanwhile, someone else who was against the mandatory vaccinations wrote: “I will no longer fly with [Qantas]. My body, my choice, and I will not be coerced by an airline.” This was quickly met with a response from another commenter, who defended the decision. “You have to get vaccines for dengue, malaria and yellow fever when travelling to many countries. Is that a violation of your bodily sanctity as well, or do you forget about it then?” the commenter wrote.

The news comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in August that, if approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the government would be making the vaccine “as mandatory as you can possibly make it” for Australians.

Morrison spoke again in November on the vaccine, saying the National Cabinet had officially endorsed Australia’s national vaccination policy, which will regulate how the approved vaccine or vaccines are handled. The government has also thrown their financial funding behind four of the nine vaccine programs that are currently supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is a global partnership working to accelerate the development of a vaccine for the virus.

When speaking about the national policy just weeks ago, Morrison said that although he would encourage all Australians to get the jab once the trials have been deemed successful and it becomes available, the vaccine would not be compulsory for anyone.