Lois2

Can anyone make any sense out of these rules:"Effective December 1, 2021 Costa Rica will begin requiring most commercial establishments to operate under one of two plans, as part of a phased in vaccine mandate :

Plan A) Establishments must verify the vaccination status of patrons 12 years old and older. Establishments included in the requirement are: Restaurants, bars and casinos, stores and commercial centers, museums, gyms, hotels, worship sites, event halls, adventure tourism activities, theaters and cinemas, and sporting events.

OR

Plan B) Commercial establishments may admit unvaccinated patrons but they must operate at 50% of the facility’s capacity.

Beginning January 8, 2022, the Plan B option expires, and commercial establishments must require proof of vaccination for all patrons 12 years old and old"

Costa Rica is one of the few countries that did not require a simple test to enter....now they are one of the few that do not require a vaccination to enter but yet they seem to be putting the burden on the hotels to sort out who can stay. Most hotels are close to 100% full for Christmas to must operate with requiring vaccinations. They will now have to go back to all booked and explain. Why does this government not just require the vaccine to enter the country and do their job and let the hotels do what they do...also restaurants etc. This makes no sense to me. Anyone?

Jeff_Costa_Rica

This is an odd situation. After Jan. 8, you can come to Costa Rica without being vaccinated, but for all practical purposes, you can't do anything. Well, you can go to the bank or the supermarket, but nothing tourism-related. Yes. I agree: Just require vaccinations to enter the country and be done with it.

As for the transition period that begins Dec. 1, do we know that "most hotels are close to 100% full for Christmas"? If they are, yes, they have to require all guests to be vaccinated, but how many would that really apply to?

There is a big push by the tourism industry and now by several members of the legislature to have the government push back the mandate until after the end of the high season. Whether there will be a delay or not, I don't know.

Lois2

there are many that are 100% during that Christmas week. I think it is absurd to put this on the hotels. Oh I am sure that the $$$ will rule and they will roll it back consistent with how they decided to stop testing etc. Not impressed with how CR has handled this pandemic.

Christina

I don't know why you are so incensed about this or why you care, frankly. You are also conflating two different things, the requirement for businesses applies to EVERYONE, not just tourists from abroad. These are two different things. They are not the only country that is requiring businesses to check vaccination status of clients. France does, for example, and I think Greece does also, and Germany, for a few. Where I live in the US, various business are requiring vaccine proof, also, although it is their choice to do so.

This may not have occurred to you but foreigners are not the only people using hotels in any country, nor who go to restaurants, etc.

And the other rule is a little unusual, but not really that terrible as what the CR govt is trying to do is not make rigid requirements for entry for people just visiting friends/relatives or who own property there and are going to their own property. Which isn't that odd. So if they don't interact with the public or establishments, the govt isn't requiring anything. Which actually sort of makes sense. The only part that is really unusual is that most countries with similar rules that allow unvaccinated travelers in require some kind of testing just before arrival or shortly thereafter. That is the only part of this that is really that different.

Lots of other places and businesses can manage such rules, I don't know why CR hotels should be so incompetent that they cannot. My local movie theater can somehow manage this, actually, as they don't admit people who aren't vaccinated. Actually, I think CR is being more cautious than many countries if they are requiring vaccination, not just a recent negative COVID test, as those can be wrong and also it depends when you take it. You can be infectious or just caught COVID the day before travel and yet had your test the day before that. So if anything, CR should be safer, seems to me, if they require vaccination. They also aren't the only country with that rule (currently) of not requiring certain things if the business operates at far below capacity.

Do you not want to get vaccinated, is that your real beef with this?

mlgb

I don't see anything confusing at all. Between Dec 1 and January 8 businesses can operate at 50% capacity if they chose not to check vaccination status.
After January 8 that option goes away.

Even if someone booked a hotel without being vaccinated, it isn't too late, there is still plenty of time.

Good for Costa Rica. Do they really need unvaccinated superspreaders? You know the ones not getting vaccinated are also the ones who won't wear masks indoors (or on planes) when required, and harass the poor staff that try to enforce things.

Lois2

In your very strong reply you assumed so many things that I did not say. Not going to go step by step. My thinking is just that they should require vax to enter the country or at minimum a test and yes that is a bit unusual. I am totally aware of asking for the vax proof at restaurants etc. nothing new and more should do it.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I understood your point, Lois. No, you weren't saying those things it was suggested you were saying. I think the implementation is odd. Costa Ricans will be required to be vaccinated. Why not all visitors? Just mandate that and a negative COVID test, neither of which are required to enter now and still won't be.

In other news, Costa Rica is on track to receive 1 million visitors this year. It's a respectable figure considering all that has happened. It's still way down from the 3.1 million who visited during 2019, the last "normal" year.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

The new measures are on hold now. A court has ruled that Costa Rica cannot implement the vaccination requirement through a smartphone-based QR code. Their problem seems not to be with requiring vaccination, but with the way the country wants to implement a "vaccine passport." I doubt a new system can be set up in the next two weeks or even the next two months.

danhayes7275

i am not about to pay for any travel insurance and i have just been vacinnated and plan and already paid for ticket to costa rica 8 dec 2021 till 3 mar 2022. can i do with only my vaccination card and not this damn health pass qr code as i don't see any way i can do that ungodly difficult if not impossible requirement.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Dan, that part is still a requirement. Everyone who visits has to fill out the health pass information and receive a QR code. Either you demonstrate your vaccination status with it or you buy the insurance.

What's on hold now is the "vaccine passport" aspect of it, which would have required you to show your QR code to enter hotels and restaurants.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

As I understand it ...

earthcomedy

So, what's the story with this?

Is a vax passport required or not?

I've seen no updates on Tico Times.

Lois2

Well per travelers there recently apart from some forms online prior to flight there is NO TESTING REQUIRED to get into the country...NO VAX REQUIRED....and nothing required for hotels...restaurants etc. They could not get the QR technology together to implement that program. If you take a look at TA forum on CR there is a thread going with reports of tourists testing positive in advance of returning to US. They are in quarantine for 10 days per CR rules. But no no vax passport.

mlgb

What a shocker (not). Cases exploding there?

Lois2

probably no shock for sure but the total lack of organization after a ++ test is awful. I can't imagine dealing with what some are going thru just for a one week vacation.

lauramsgarden

where is the TA forum you mention? and do you know if people who tested positive had been previously vaccinated?

volcanogirl

laura, just do a search for Tripadvisor, and it should come up. Lots of covid posts over there.

mlgb

lauramsgarden, of course people who are vaccinated and even boosted can still test postive, it's been all over the news.

Most are asymptomatic or so-called "mild to moderate" but a positive test still can play havoc with plans to fly back to the United States, not to mention need to find a quarantine lodging.

Lois2

and as a post script to this thread...they have never really implemented any of these measures. QR never got off the ground as expected