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Unvaccinated Traveler

We are putting a group together to travel to Italy in March. One of the people refuses to get vaccinated. Everyone else is.

Does Italy even allow someone in the country that is unvaccinated? I read other countries don't, but still unclear just how lenient Italy is to this. Would they have to constantly test of allowed? Go in isolation? Thanks for your help.

Posted by
3812 posts

Does Italy even allow someone in the country that is unvaccinated?

Of course not. US tourists must be either vaccinated or have recovered from Covid.

Since you must prove it, I doubt this guy would be allowed to board a flight to Italy. Even If he/she could find a way to fly to Italy and exit the airport without being detained, a negative test every 48 hours would be required to enter restaurants, museums, trains and buses.

Posted by
1156 posts

Thanks Dario. That's what most of us thought. We met last night and explained to them that it was my understanding that unless they are vaccinated, there is no point in planning their trip. I wanted to confirm with others before sending more feedback. If it were our home country, we wouldn't want unvaccinated travelers entering our country and putting others at risk, so we totally get it.
Is there a requirement like France has to get a booster for the vaccinated travelers?

Posted by
30 posts

The real issue is that there's no way to plan 3 months out or even 3 years out to know what the entry requirements will be in March. Italy and several other countries did provide alternatives to vaccination via multiple pre, arrival and post testing combined with quarantine this past summer as they were trying to get tourism going again. Its unlikely they'll do that again in early 2022 though with the broad availability of vaccinations. It very likely most countries will be requiring proof of boosters for anyone that is more than 6 or 9 months since original full doses in 2021.

Posted by
1117 posts

Expect the vaccination requirement to be here to stay.

Other than that, there's no knowing what will be in March. Booster vaccinations might be mandatory for travelers, who knows.

Also, note that currently, many European countries are moving toward 2G rules for restaurants, venues, and shopping (groceries and pharmacy items excepted). Which means that only people who are either vaccinated or recovered are allowed to enter. Again, no one can tell you what will be in March, but even if they were to let him into the country, your travel buddy might spend the first part of his vacation in quarantine and the rest of his vacation waiting outdoors for the rest of you to come back out from a restaurant or museum or whereever.

Posted by
13809 posts

TBH, since you are putting together a group, I'd not even mention that rules may or may not change. I'd just go with "Italy is not allowing unvaccinated people to enter" and move on with your plans for the vaccinated group.

On a personal level I'd not be comfortable traveling with an unvaccinated peson anyway but YMMV and it certainly depends on what your relationship is to this person.

Posted by
1117 posts

On a personal level I'd not be comfortable traveling with an
unvaccinated peson anyway

Very true. And to be quite frank, I certainly wouldn't want to be the passenger who gets to sit next to that person on a nine hour flight.

Posted by
7129 posts

As others mentioned, this is a bad risk for your travel country.

JR, if the unvaccinated person did get Covid while you were on the trip, the rest of you would likely be put in quarantine and also couldn’t answer “no” on the question asked at the airport to come home - “Have you been with a person who tested positive in the last 14 days?”

That’s a risk your entire group should have a choice to consider before you finalize potential travel plans.

Posted by
1156 posts

We totally agree with everything said about unvaccinated travelers. He is the husband of one of the group members, and we honestly put it out there that he should plan on staying home if he doesn't want to comply. He is actually soon going to be running out of time even if he were to agree to vaccination, having to wait between shots. It's frustrating to think one doesn't think they need to protect others, even if they aren't willing to protect themselves. My travel partner and I have been to Italy many many times on our own, and we decided this morning to just go back on our own. Trying to organize a group of people, especially the stubborn, isn't worth the headache.

Posted by
13809 posts

"and we decided this morning to just go back on our own. Trying to organize a group of people, especially the stubborn, isn't worth the headache."

I think this is an excellent plan. Really, 2 of you will be able to be more nimble if requirements do change mid-trip. International trips are a bit anxiety-producing right now anyway (to me) and you don't need to add layers of extra things/people to worry about.

Posted by
15679 posts

Yep, everything Pam just said. You've made a wise call for just you and your companion to go by yourselves, JR.

Posted by
4495 posts

Since it is unlikely that you wanted to travel with this person anyway, the vaccination requirement is really a stroke of luck.

The self-organized group travel idea I usually shake my head at, would never do it. When out of town for a wedding recently I went sight seeing one morning with my sister who complained about breakfast continuously for 30 minutes. Will never travel with anyone other than immediate family unless really, really sure. Call me finicky but I don’t even want to hear 30 seconds of complaining about breakfast.

Posted by
14811 posts

To be fair, your friend can enter Italy without proof of vaccination. However, to do this....

1) He must take a covid test within 72 hours of arrival;

2) Self Quarantine for 5 days;

3) Travel to his final destination by private transfer only--no trains or buses;

4) Take another Covid test after 5 days.

Now that he is in the country, he will have problems getting in anywhere including restaurants and bars without proof of vaccination. He will also not be able to take any trains, buses, or domestic flights.

So, he can go, he just won't be having much fun.

Personally, I wouldn't travel with him.

Posted by
1156 posts

Thanks, everyone. We feel good about our decision. We only found out yesterday that this individual refused vaccination. So, we informed them we will be traveling, just on our own. That is what we are used to and frees us do travel about as we wish without conflict. Who knows what March will bring anyhow as far as travel requirements go.

Posted by
1156 posts

Frank, thanks for listing it that way. We forwarded it to our friends, and they can go from there.

Posted by
1117 posts

Frank, yes, that is how I too understood the document Kim linked to above. Theoretically they might actually let an unvaccinated person into the country, under the circumstances you listed. However, with quarantine and Europe moving toward 2G everywhere, that person is not going to have much fun.

Also, even if the country would let him in, I wonder if any airline would take unvaccinated passengers. I hope not. They can't expect vaccinated passengers to sit next to unvaccinated ones for hours on end.

Posted by
14811 posts

Also, even if the country would let him in, I wonder if any airline would take unvaccinated passengers. I hope not. They can't expect vaccinated passengers to sit next to unvaccinated ones for hours on end.

Airlines care about one thing--money. As long as the country he is traveling to will let him in, they will take him. In the USA you don't have to be vaccinated to fly.

Of course, he will have to wear a mask, but that's about the end of the rules.

Posted by
3586 posts

Just had brunch with my daughter and grandson, who returned from Italy last Sunday. She mentioned that proof of vaccination was being strictly enforced everywhere they went, like restaurants, cafes, and tourism sites.
Also, JR, I know you’ve said that you’ve already decided to go it alone; but I’ll join with Tom in being dubious about self-organized group travel. We’ve done it successfully a couple of times, but the circumstances were special. For one thing, there were 12 of us. Since many people had cars, but none that held more than 4, there was no question of needing agreement on day trips. We had to endure a few snarky comments about “people who go off every day and don’t sit around enjoying this wonderful venue,” but it was easy to ignore that. After spending a couple thousand $ and 15 or more hours of flying each way we weren’t about to sit around. Most decisions were made by the person who had organized and paid for the villa rentals. (Fair enough!). Nonetheless, there was a certain amount of grumbling about differences in consumption, mostly of alcohol, which was purchased from a common kitty. 😖
When you travel with people, you may learn things about them that surprise you, so good decision and happy travels.

Posted by
1117 posts

@Frank: Good to know. They certainly won't get my money for as long as they do that, if it means I run the risk of getting to sit next to an unvaccinated person. The idea of sitting at such close quarters without the slightest chance of social distancing sure does not make me feel comfortable anyway, for the time being.

Posted by
13 posts

This thread contains much false information regarding vaccination requirements to enter Italy. I can tell you with 100% certainty that an unvaccinated airline passenger traveling from the USA is currently allowed to enter Italy. They must show proof of a negative Covid test (within 72 hours) to the airline when checking in, they are subject to a 5-day self isolation upon arrival, and they need to test negative at the end of those 5 days. The self-isolation and final negative test are all done on the “honor system”, and an at-home self test in your hotel room is just fine.

Posted by
5955 posts

This thread contains much false information regarding vaccination
requirements to enter Italy.

Could you please point out where exactly you see "false information"

Frank's post pretty much covers the same requirements you have listed.

To be fair, your friend can enter Italy without proof of vaccination.
However, to do this.... 1) He must take a covid test within 72 hours
of arrival; 2) Self Quarantine for 5 days; 3) Travel to his final
destination by private transfer only--no trains or buses; 4) Take
another Covid test after 5 days. Now that he is in the country, he
will have problems getting in anywhere including restaurants and bars
without proof of vaccination. He will also not be able to take any
trains, buses, or domestic flights.

Assuming your 100% certainty means you have personal experience- you have neglected to mention how as an unvaccinated individual you enjoyed your trip? Was this a recent trip? Were you able to enter restaurants/cafes for indoor dining? were you allowed in to museums and tourist sights? were you allowed to board trains?

This link is still accurate and useful for those wondering about entry requirements:
https://infocovid.viaggiaresicuri.it/index_en.html

Posted by
3812 posts

Could you please point out where exactly you see "false information"

I assume that my message could be flagged as "false", as long as you forget that JR asked about a non vaccinated guy travelling with a group of vaccinated people. Somebody travelling alone could actually avoid museums, trains and restaurants and could waste five days of vacation.

Posted by
1117 posts

Sure, it is true that at first we assumed unvaccinated people were not allowed to enter Italy at all. But that "false information" has long been corrected.

But what's the point in traveling when you are spending the first half of your vacation in quarantine and the second half waiting outside for the rest of your group to come back from the restaurant or from some venue?

Posted by
5955 posts

Sure, it is true that at first we assumed unvaccinated people were not
allowed to enter Italy at all. But that "false information" has long
been corrected.

Not really. Dario's post is accurate but just not complete. Unvaccinated travelers must show a negative test or proof of recovery.

It looks like viajera traveled to Italy way back in early July so his experience and info is well out of date.

Posted by viajera Gig Harbor 07/27/21 12:33 AM 12 posts Report Delta
provided both blankets and pillows for each passenger when I flew
round trip from Atlanta/Rome three weeks ago.

Posted by
1117 posts

Well, there was potential for misunderstanding, for instance if you only read the first half of the website Kim linked to, which I think happened to several of us.

Either way, JR has made a wise and sensible decision, and since it's really not much of a difference if you stay home as an unvaccinated traveler or stay in quarantine and outside of all interesting places, I don't think this initial misunderstanding really matters a whole lot.

Posted by
8261 posts

Here is the danger of reading just the first post in a thread and not going all the way through. The OP (vaccinated) stated that he had decided not to try to travel with the unvaccinated traveler (who was a friend) several posts ago. Yet, we still have upset people telling him to stay home.......