# Ethics of Travelling for a Vaccine **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 5, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273 "2021-03-05T15:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/61 "2021-03-08T17:39:06Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If I’m understanding you, yeah: the sites weren’t requiring state residency, they were open to anyone who wanted to make an appointment. Yes, I mean either that situation in which I think you mean people from any state at all were eligible, or if they’d been specifically open to your state as well as to the state they were in, even if not open to people from states further away. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/62 "2021-03-08T18:16:05Z")
Is there really that degree of urgency? I mean, unless you’re doing things that are elevated risk, is there any reason you can’t just wait it out until they’re available where you live? I mean, I’ve heard a lot of anecdotal evidence of people driving out into the sticks to counties without many people or many COVID cases to get vaccinated, since our governor said that counties can’t limit it to their own residents. And I was amazed; even though I’m in the “pre-existing condition” group and eligible to get vaccinated, I was not in such a hurry to go drive out into the hinterlands to scrounge a vaccination. I figured I’d just wait until one of the local hospitals or the county was ready. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/63 "2021-03-08T19:14:52Z")
A lot of educators feel a sense of urgency to get vaccinated prior to student return. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/64 "2021-03-08T19:15:45Z")
I’m NOT doing anything with much risk. But I WANT TO. All my favorite social activities have been killed by covid. I have been invited to groups that I am not comfortable going to – but that I would be comfortable going to if I were vaccinated. Also, there’s always the chance that I’ll mess up, and catch it despite trying to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/65 "2021-03-08T20:18:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It seems to me that traveling for a vaccine is a moral good. If there are long wait times, or you’re not able to make an appointment at all, in your area, that indicates that your area is underserved. I would gladly donate my allotted vaccine dose to my older sister who lives in Canada (I live in Oregon). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/66 "2021-03-08T23:52:54Z")
If this were an ethics class, I might pile on an additional question, “suppose you’re a big supporter of unions and have never crossed a picket line, and then the nurses at the place where you’re getting the vaccine went on strike, what would you do?”🙄 [short answer: fuck it I’m getting it anyway] > **[800 nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester go on strike](https://www.wcvb.com/article/800-nurses-worcesters-st-vincent-hospital-plan-to-strike-march-8/35761611#)** > > More than 800 nurses at St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester are now on strike. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/67 "2021-03-09T00:22:43Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > What puzzles me about people travelling across state lines etc. is whether there is any checking of credentials. > > When I got my shot, I had to provide ID. I don’t know what they’d have done if my ID had shown I was from another county. When I got mine, we were told to bring photocopies of a photo ID, front and back, as well as our insurance information, all on the same sheet of paper, as well as another form we pre-filled… but we were also told that, even if we didn’t have that documentation, that if we showed up to our appointed time, we would get the shot. I imagine that, in that situation, they’d have had a headache of a time tracking down all the necessary documentation after the fact, and they didn’t want that headache. Of course, a random member of the public still couldn’t just show up and say “inject me”, because they were still asking for your name and what time your appointment was for. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/68 "2021-03-09T01:17:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > When I got mine, we were told to bring photocopies of a photo ID, front and back, as well as our insurance information, all on the same sheet of paper, as well as another form we pre-filled… but we were also told that, even if we didn’t have that documentation, that if we showed up to our appointed time, we would get the shot. I should hope they’d give you the shot anyway. Lots of people don’t have a copier at home, or easy access to one anywhere that won’t increase their risk. If they need copies, they should be prepared to make them at the site, while people are waiting in line. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/69 "2021-03-09T11:33:25Z")
Well, there really wasn’t much “while people were waiting in line”: They managed to keep a tight enough schedule that people really were getting processed and injected at the time we were showing up. And the site was just for school workers, all of whom were already back to work in some form or another, and of course we have access to copiers at work. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/70 "2021-03-09T19:00:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > the site was just for school workers, all of whom were already back to work in some form or another, and of course we have access to copiers at work In that case it makes more sense; though I still don’t know why they needed copies when nobody else seems to. Maybe it has to do with what the school thinks it needs to have on record for workers, though. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/71 "2021-03-09T19:45:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That cite doesnt even list a Phase two. In fact the state doesn’t mention a Phase 2. But the **CDC** does. > > However, I am going by the CDC, where teachers and essential works are Phase two, and we are well into that: > _K-12 teachers and school staff and child_ > _care workers_ > _• Critical workers in high-risk settings—_ > _workers who are in industries essential to_ > _the functioning of society and substantially_ > _higher risk of exposure_ California is currently vaccinating those in [phases 1a and 1b only](https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccines/), with educators falling into group 1b in California. The document that you are linking is from a meeting held on December 20th, 2020, which is ancient history in the vaccination recommendations timeline. The actual CDC recommendations today are [here](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations.html) and it also includes educators in their 1b group. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/72 "2021-03-09T20:12:19Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > A lot of educators feel a sense of urgency to get vaccinated prior to student return. Indeed. My wife is a teacher in Georgia, and her county just had students return today. Some counties have had students for a while now. Teachers weren’t eligible for the vaccine until yesterday. She knows some teachers who traveled to Alabama or Tennessee (~2 hour drive one way) to get the vaccine because they had their appointments open to teachers and did not care if you were a Georgia resident. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/73 "2021-03-09T20:33:02Z")
Ok, I see i am out of date on that, Phase 2 is now 1B. 😳 Still, they are well into teachers and essential workers, no matter what phase you call it. CA is doing Ok but not good, being in the low middle of % of dose given, 34th out of 50. [https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-percentage-of-covid-19-vaccines-administered.html](https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-percentage-of-covid-19-vaccines-administered.html) Kansas is the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/74 "2021-03-10T01:10:24Z")
Another consideration is, if you are getting the 2 dose version, will you be able to drive for the second one? If not, stay in your own turf. Ultimately, I think if people who are wanting to get vaccinated, get vaccinated… I don’t really care if they do it in pretty much any way they can. The problem is not created by the people, but by the previous administrations ineptitude. I am hearing that by May they expect supply to be greater than demand. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273/75 "2021-03-21T08:34:51Z")
My dad asked me if I would be able to get vaccinated in the states, if I can’t get one here (Switzerland). According to what I’ve read, it seems to depend, as some places are asking for identification, and others are not. I’m not actually planning to fly to the U.S. to get vaccinated as I expect that I’ll get vaccinated here, sometime after June. According to the current strategy, I might be able to get vaccinated at my primary care doctor. Which would be really convenient. And a lot easier than flying to the U.S. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethics-of-travelling-for-a-vaccine/937273.md?page=3)