Viking is No Longer Requiring Covid Vaccinations

[duquephart]

1 minute ago, basenji56 said:

Last fall. How many today? More than 96 percent I would bet. 

 

Still not all - anyway you look at it. Called math.

[basenji56]

1 minute ago, basenji56 said:

Last fall. How many today? More than 96 percent I would bet. 

And if you are in the 2-3 percent who never got vaccinated and don’t have natural immunity and are worried about getting Covid, my advice is that you stay home and not cruise. 

[deec]

I wonder if Viking will still mandate that their crew is immunized and at what level.

 

[DGHOC]

25 minutes ago, uktog said:

In the UK for the vast majority aged under 75 no further vaccinations have been made available after our second booster and it is not something we can go out and buy or demand from our health practitioner.

I cannot get our online app to work any more to create a QR code to prove we were vaccinated though I have an old paper document that says we were.  We join a cruise in the USA in August, fingers crossed the old paper stands up to scrutiny!

UKtog, do you have the NHS app (not the Covid app which has been closed down) that gives you access to your medical notes/appts etc? If so you can still get your NHS covid pass on it which you can download to your phone. If that doesn't work for some reason, you can just access your medical notes on the app and scroll down through immunisations. We did it this week.

[trebor900]

37 minutes ago, uktog said:

In the UK for the vast majority aged under 75 no further vaccinations have been made available after our second booster and it is not something we can go out and buy or demand from our health practitioner.

I cannot get our online app to work any more to create a QR code to prove we were vaccinated though I have an old paper document that says we were.  We join a cruise in the USA in August, fingers crossed the old paper stands up to scrutiny!

Covid pass is still available to download via the NHS app.

 

[Hanoj]

So . . . does this give Viking marketing another “no” to add their list?

[pavementends]

Yeah, got the email yesterday.

 

Not crazy about this change. This was, I think, inevitable and (as they say) Viking has been slower to remove this requirement than many other lines.

 

Think about it this way. There was Covid on the ships before this. I was on an expedition cruise (not Viking) where there were about 5% Covid cases by the end of the cruise. This was WITH a vaccine requirement AND a PCR test requirement.

 

If you are concerned (and you should be, not least because of the potential loss of some of your vacation experience) there are things to do. Mask in risky areas (can you say airport, bus, and airplane? Elevators?). Get the boosters you are entitled to and time to get the most protection when you need it. Avoid crowded bars and discos (probably not a problem with the Viking crowd).

 

And maybe there is a degree of protection in using the "better" cruise lines, where the customers managed to accrue enough bucks to afford the cruise, which is not usually done by being stupid.

[SJD117]

We had to cancel an entire DIY trip to Europe last month due to Covid infecting both of us (and a nasty “rebound” case infecting me). Bad luck. But on a positive note, the checks started rolling in yesterday on our travel insurance claim.

[uktog]

38 minutes ago, DGHOC said:

UKtog, do you have the NHS app (not the Covid app which has been closed down) that gives you access to your medical notes/appts etc? If so you can still get your NHS covid pass on it which you can download to your phone. If that doesn't work for some reason, you can just access your medical notes on the app and scroll down through immunisations. We did it this week.

Thanks, unfortunately as we live in the land formerly ruled by Nicola we could not use the NHS app, we had to use the tartan version and it is not fully functioning now.  Our passes always were a little different which did give issues as Verifly could never recognise them.  I will take what we have with us, I doubt Viking will say no to it, they did eventually accept the previous paper versions last year but then we could back that up with the app up to a point.

[DGHOC]

2 minutes ago, uktog said:

Thanks, unfortunately as we live in the land formerly ruled by Nicola we could not use the NHS app, we had to use the tartan version and it is not fully functioning now.  Our passes always were a little different which did give issues as Verifly could never recognise them.  I will take what we have with us, I doubt Viking will say no to it, they did eventually accept the previous paper versions last year but then we could back that up with the app up to a point.

As well as the NHS app we have Patient Access with our GP that gives us access to our medical records. If you have that, you could scroll down to the immunisations??

[DGHOC]

Actually, with our Viking cruise last summer, they wouldn't look at Verifly, which we'd filled in, or our last jab dates on our Covid app. The chap demanded that we give him the dates for each jab. I told him that that was ridiculous, especially given I'd had five then but we did have the info on our NHS app so we could comply. I think it's likely you'd get a different demand from every checking in consultant!

[uktog]

15 minutes ago, DGHOC said:

As well as the NHS app we have Patient Access with our GP that gives us access to our medical records. If you have that, you could scroll down to the immunisations??

We don’t get that here 🙂 

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Agree!  The vaccines/boosters were always intended to reduce the sickness effects for people, not to prevent them from catching it.   We got the 6th shot back in April for our June cruise.  Hopefully we are ready for all the sick and coughing passengers (as reported on the previous Saturn cruise Roll Call).

We got Covid in late March—six months after our first bivalent booster. We’re getting a 2nd bivalent booster in mid-June, in advance of our July 5 cruise out of Bergen. The suggestion is to get it three months after infection. We still wear masks in crowds, while traveling, & social distance.

[millybess]

2 hours ago, basenji56 said:

I am old enough to remember when they told us that the vaccines were 95 percent effective in preventing us from getting Covid. 
 

In our country they told us that the vaccine was 95% effective in preventing us from being hospitalized from getting Covid.  

We are both vaccinated to the max (lost count!) and we have both had Covid.  

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, pavementends said:

And maybe there is a degree of protection in using the "better" cruise lines, where the customers managed to accrue enough bucks to afford the cruise, which is not usually done by being stupid.

 

Money does not always equate to good sense, taking precautions, or caring for anyone other than themselves...  

 

Don't hate on me - I added the word "always"...

[JerryInIL]

All we have to prove is that we received the 2 original vaccinations 2 years ago?

[Pushka]

17 hours ago, basenji56 said:

"In some countries legislation would now be harder to legally enforce that a passenger is vaccinated (what is that 2 dose 3 dose 4 dose - some countries do not offer these extra doses to everyone and you can’t buy them). "

 

I've had three doses and still got Covid.  I expect that I will get it again.  If I was very fearful of getting it again, I would cancel all future cruises and stay home.  You can't rely on either your own vaccination, the vaccination of others or even natural immunity to prevent you from getting Covid.    

We both developed Covid 6 weeks after our 4th Vaccination.  Vaccination never prevented spread, in which case whether or not others are vaccinated is really of no one else's concern now.

 

We both had our fifth vaccination a month before we undertook a gruelling cruise through India (great opportunity for exposure), Egypt (more exposure) and Israel (huge crowds of people from around the world).  Neither of us contracted Covid, we never wore masks. But we did pick up a tummy bug  Sigh. This was a Viking Cruise last month. 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Pushka

[CDNPolar]

I think that those of us that are "pro-vaccine" believe that the vaccine prevented serious illness.

 

I believe that.  I have had 5 jabs and considering the 6th.

 

I brought the newest variant - at the time - back home to my husband from a work trip in South Africa last year at this time.  I was vaccinated with my 4th shot 3 weeks before that trip.

 

My case was quite mild and not as bad as most common colds that I have had in the past.  

 

Because my symptoms did not show until after a few days home, my husband got it too.  His symptoms were a little worse, but all cleared in short order in the end.

 

My point here is that if you are concerned that Viking or other cruise lines are dropping the vaccine requirement, then either don't cruise, or make sure that you have done what you can to protect yourself from serious illness.  Get another booster if available and wear a mask.

 

I personally would never mock a person today for wearing a mask.  Covid is still a risk for immune compromised and we should respect that.  We don't know what health issues anyone is dealing with and therefore should never share our negative opinion if they choose to wear a mask.

 

I think that what is interesting is the cases of Norovirus that are now being reported, and from my knowledge, this is spread on cruise ships from people who are sick that are not washing their hands and then through touch it is passed on from buffet tongs and door handles etc.

 

Have we not learned anything from the Covid pandemic about hand hygiene?  

[bison2013]

Protect yourself with the tools you wish to access- reliance on others to do that 'for you' has never a good strategy- be it infectious disease management, allergen control or similar.

[BigBee51]

We just returned from back to back river cruises in France, per the documentation required to cruise, all passengers were required to have had at least 2 doses of a COVID vaccine. That said, no one asked for proof of vaccination nor were we required to upload proof through VerifFly

[shadowlover]

On 6/6/2023 at 10:56 AM, basenji56 said:

I am old enough to remember when they told us that the vaccines were 95 percent effective in preventing us from getting Covid. 
 

The vaccine was developed to prevent DEATH not just the disease.  It has been effective in doing that.  We have hopefully come through the worst of covid and I am so grateful to those of us who protected ourselves by getting vaccinated and following health recommendations.  I am also proud of all of us who have worked in health care throughout, even caring for those who have fought the science every step of the way. 

 I pray we can stop arguing about it and cruise safely.  I protect myself and that's the best I can do!

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, shadowlover said:

The vaccine was developed to prevent DEATH not just the disease.  It has been effective in doing that.  We have hopefully come through the worst of covid and I am so grateful to those of us who protected ourselves by getting vaccinated and following health recommendations.  I am also proud of all of us who have worked in health care throughout, even caring for those who have fought the science every step of the way. 

 I pray we can stop arguing about it and cruise safely.  I protect myself and that's the best I can do!

Thank you Shadowlover for stating it so well.  Totally agree. We’ve done all shots and protect ourselves the best we can and continue to cruise and travel the world while we still can.  

[pavementends]

12 hours ago, bison2013 said:

Protect yourself with the tools you wish to access- reliance on others to do that 'for you' has never a good strategy- be it infectious disease management, allergen control or similar.

 

Well that's what we have left. The reality is that vaccines work best when most of the population gets them. But (appropriately for this board) that ship has sailed.

[LindaAndBillTravel]

Viking is already not requiring vaccination. We just returned from sailing on Saturn, departing May 23, and no proof of vaccination was ever asking for. And many people had COVID by the end of our cruise from what I gathered.

Edited June 9, 2023 by LindaAndBillTravel

[rbslos18]

1 hour ago, LindaAndBillTravel said:

Viking is already not requiring vaccination. We just returned from sailing on Saturn, departing May 23, and no proof of vaccination was ever asking for. And many people had COVID by the end of our cruise from what I gathered.

At this point, over two years since the original vaccinations were offered, Viking’s policy requiring just the original two vaccinations is of little effectiveness. Only 18% of eligible people received the bivalent booster. People seem unaware of the latest booster or overconfident on their level of immunity. 

We just got our second bivalent shot (available for those over 65) in preparation for our July cruise. We aren’t taking COVID tests with us or anti-viral medication. 

Edited June 9, 2023 by rbslos18