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Intrepid Travel Now Requires Vaccinations; Launches Vaccine Equity Campaign

COVID VACCINE

Intrepid Travel, the small group adventure travel company, will now require all travellers joining its tours to be fully vaccinated.

As well, the company launched a vaccine equity campaign for low-income countries who are in low or no supply of the life-saving doses, noting that currently, only 0.3 per cent of doses have been administered in low-income countries.

“Intrepid was founded on ideals of inclusivity and equality, and the entire travel industry must step-up to acknowledge and act on the current inequalities that persist around global access to COVID-19 vaccines,” said James Thornton, the CEO of Intrepid Travel in a statement.

“Ending the pandemic is not only about you and your vaccine. Just because travelers are vaccinated and ready to explore doesn’t mean that communities are vaccinated and ready to host you. Together, we have a responsibility to ensure that everyone can safely and fairly access vaccinations in every country around the world.”

Officially, the mandatory vaccine policy for the company starts 01 SEP for all travellers and tour leaders. The exceptions to this policy will be Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands, due to the intensive lockdown and restrictions these areas are currently under.

Until now, the company required either proof of vaccination or a negative test from the last 72 hours. Intrepid was already achieving vaccination rates of 94 per cent on their trips so the update is not a big leap.

“As challenging as the last year and a half has been, I believe the global community has demonstrated this capacity for kindness on a universal scale. Think about it: we stayed (and, in some cases, are still staying) indoors for weeks or months at a time in order to protect the more vulnerable among us. We have been wearing masks, receiving vaccines, checking in on one another, supporting local businesses, and creating new ways of working and living. We have been practicing kindness on a massive scale,” Thornton wrote in an open letter.

“Now, as the global vaccine rollout picks up pace, we have an opportunity to do it again.”

The company will mobilize their 23 global offices in order to help with vaccine distribution, providing these examples of what’s already been done:

  • In Cuzco, Peru, Intrepid started offering free transportation to a vaccination hub for trekking porters and their families, as well as accommodations. Intrepid’s deputy operations manager, Maritza Chacacanta, also began advocating for a new site to be opened closer to the porters’ communities. At the start of JUL 2021, Intrepid had 0 percent of porters vaccinated. When the new site opened in Calca, that number jumped to 80 percent by 01AUG 2021.
  • In Sri Lanka, to help address vaccine hesitancy, Intrepid’s regional general manager of Asia, Anu Karunatilaka, who is based in Colombo, hosted an information and Q&A session with Professor Neelika Malavige, a member of the World Health Organization’s technical advisory committee and the International Society of Infectious Diseases, to provide tour guides with access to quality information and education about COVID-19 vaccines.
  • Globally, Intrepid has also offered paid vaccination leave to make it easier for all staff to receive vaccinations as soon as they are eligible.

Intrepid is also putting its money where its mouth is. The company’s The Intrepid Foundation has also committed to raise AUD $100,000 for UNICEF Australia, including an upfront donation of AUD $50,000 to their Give the World a Shot fundraising appeal.

UNICEF is leading the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation ever on behalf of the Global COVAX Facility, which will see two billion vaccine doses delivered in 190 countries to those who need them most by the end of 2022. One hundred percent of donations will go towards universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, supporting COVAX in their mission to vaccinate 30 per cent of the global population by the end of 2021.

For more info on Intrepid’s updated vaccine policy, click here.

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