Earlier I wrote about how Serbia is vaccinating foreigners for free, which has caused a huge influx of people from neighboring countries. Well here’s an interesting airline angle to that…
Continue reading: Hah: Albawings Flies Staff To Serbia To Get Vaccinated
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
It could be that some of their staff (like those pilots) had already been vaccinated.
They've got some real talent in their crew. Airlines in the U.S. should take notice.
~ The Honorable Reginald
I’m currently a flight instructor that got vaccinated recently. Most side effects for me came in a day later (and were mild), and so while we have the mandatory 48 hour waiting period here in the US following the shot, it wouldn’t really be a safety of flight issue in the first 6-8 hours following the shot. Personally I just had a sore arm following the first shot and some mild flu like symptoms after the second one, and they went away after a few hours. I was good to fly after the waiting period.
This being said everyone reacts differently, and I imagine the pilots here either had the vaccine previously, but if not, they were still safe to fly.
Don't you need two doses of the vaccine - each a few weeks apart - to be considered fully vaccinated?
Although we didn't fly on Albawings, yesterday (Saturday) we drove from Skopje to Belgrade (5 hrs) to be vaccinated. Kudos to the Serbians for giving their neighbors free vaccinations!
Saturday was very crowded because those who had appointments in the morning were not able to get to Belgrade on time because Macedonia refused to relax the curfew (10PM - 5 AM) for the purpose of traveling to Serbia to get vaccinated, so given the 5 hour drive from Skopje, and longer from farther away, those people just got there when they got there. Let me say that again: Macedonia refused to relax the curfew for those traveling to Serbia to get vaccinated, thereby keeping Macedonia safe from the coronavirus? I can't even begin...
I understand today (Sunday) was much better, and that there were no lines at all. Again, thanks to the team at the Belgrade Fair and to the Serbian government for potentially saving our lives.
Depends on which vaccine. J&J is one-and-done, but I doubt that's what Serbia has extras of.
More likely the Russian or Chinese. I think the Russian vaccine is two shots, and I believe there are multiple Chinese vaccines, some one-shot, some two....don't know for sure (but I do know I sure as hell wouldn't fly to Serbia to get stuck with any of those...).
Not that I would use Albawings to get there, but I highly recommend Albania for a vacation. Not much to Tirana, but if you're looking for a Mediterranean getaway, Sarande in the south is absolutely gorgeous. Imagine Greece with no tourists (although on my last trip there were certainly an increased amount of Scandinavian and British tourists who are catching on to the hidden gem). Extremely cheap too, so no need to worry about using your hard earned points!
Talent indeed! Airlines all over the world--not just the US--should take notice of this particular airline. In fact, their talent is so incredible, it can't even be measured!
-- The Even More Honourable Alfred
Surely one of the biggest Easter eggs here - tip the head to Nikola
BEG full name Nikola Tesla Airport Belgrade
@Uros - Based on the albanian premier, people from Kosova are coming to get vaccinated for free in Norther Albania towns. It started a few weeks back first with doctors going to the the town of Kukes. Albania is an amazing place to visit with wonderful beaches in the South and breathtaking scenaries in the mountains up North...two different worlds a couple of hundred miles apart.
I think I've seen a Reddit post where US citizens are trying to organize a trip to Serbia to get vaccinated.
Go figure, there's vaccine turist and that Serbia is the place to go.
If anybody remembers the history of the region (even just from the 1990s), the irony of this runs deep...