The UK approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on December 2nd, becoming the first country in the western world to do so. Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) granted approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use and it is set to start reaching the most vulnerable people in the UK next week.
Pfizer, being a pioneer in many such effective interventions, estimates the vaccine to have a 95% chance of prevention. The country has ordered enough doses to vaccinate 20 million people — after weeks of rising cases, this has sparked a ray of hope in the people of Britain, making them feel like things will go back to normal again.
What this means for commercial and business travel
With the release of an effective vaccine, the world is geared up to start recovering socially and economically from the pandemic, with a goal to reach their pre-covid state in the next year or so. However, recovery from the damage caused will be an uphill battle. Things are not going to be the same and people are going to be extremely cautious, or so we hope.
A few border authorities have expressed interest in opening up their doors for non-essential travel for individuals who have already been vaccinated and have supporting documents to prove the same.
Voyage Manager’s role
Informally carrying copies of your documents can lead to mishaps. You may lose your physical copies in transit or have your e-copies go corrupt due to some issue with your device. Voyage Manager not only provides travel tracking services to businesses and organizations so that they can ensure safe business travel for their employees in such trying times, but also has a personal vault that has a traveller’s documents saved in one place - a feature shared with Mia Bazo. This enables quick access during immigration and medical checks.
Moreover, since a large number of international bodies have announced that they will have their own immigration requirements and systems in place to make sure that there’s no further spread of the disease, these processes may not be uniform. Our team is prioritising communication with these organisations to ensure that there is updated information on new immigration requirements at their selected destination.
Communicating virtually with international prospects over this past year has made us realise that we may not need to travel for business as much as we used to. However, sometimes, a personal presence can really turn things around for the better. Companies are eager to physically reconnect with their international prospects, partners and customers but owing to the economic repercussions of the lockdown, they may no longer have the same travel budgets as they used to. It is extremely crucial for businesses to ensure that they’re optimising their business travel and prioritising the destinations that need their immediate attention. Voyage Manager’s travel tracking software provides statistics and insights that help you keep track of your travel spendings to make sure that you’re not overshooting your budget.
