Hi, just curious how HO’s and sitters feel about a)having a non vaccinated sitter in their home or b) the sitter is not vaccinated. I havent seen this issue arise in sits that I’ve looked at recently but i do mention it in my profile. I am knowingly going into a sit where the HO is not vaccinated and will be spending some hours with them before they depart. I suppose i am a bit anxious but for no logical reason!
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Every day you could be interacting with non vaccinated people.
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Looks like you made a choice and now questioning yourself.
But to answer your question, it varies case by case.
I’ve been asked during the initial zoom call (before booking) whether I’m vaccinated and I’m always happy to answer (yes). If it’s important to you I think it’s perfectly reasonable that you ask. It’s your home and your safety!
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Hi @Creaturecomforts. I did a sit last summer for an older couple. They asked me if I had been vaxed and boosted (yes) in the video chat. I arrived the night before they left, and the walk-through went as it usually does. The only difference is that when we sat down to dinner, they asked me to sit at the far end of the table. I was fine with that.
We each have our own preferences when it comes to safeguarding our health. If you don’t feel comfortable when you know you’ll be physically close to them for a period of time, either explain and create some distance between you or wear a mask. I would hope they would respect your wishes.
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I include that I am vaxed and triple-boosted in my initial contact.
Back in the earlier stages of covid I didn’t ask and sat with one HO who was not vaxed and let me know only in passing after I arrived.
Another HO told me they were vaxed and although we met, put me in a hotel the night between meeting and their departure.
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Hi @Creaturecomforts there are a number of conversations around this subject on the forum, as you can imagine when members began to travel again, post pandemic lock down, this was a very frequent discussion https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/traveling-in-covid-times … this is just an example.
There are discussions on the forum covering a multitude of subjects and members can search for their particular subject of interest using the spyglass and key words.
If a non vaxxed HO is welcoming a vaxxed sitter into their home it would indicate they are pretty cool about the whole Covid business.
We have never been asked about our V status before a sit but occasionally it comes up on meeting the HO but if/when there are differences in our respective status it has never been an issue! And if being vaxxed/non vaxxed IS an issue it should be clearly stated in the host/sitter profile so that people don’t apply for sits or invite sitters unnecessarily! Enough said 
It has been discussed quite a bit in the thread mentioned by Angela. We have been asked twice about our status, once it was an issue for the HO, the other time it wasn’t. For the most part people in Europe seem to have accepted now that the jab doesn’t help much to prevent infection / transmission and at least Pfizer recently admitted that it wasn’t originally tested for this purpose. But still: I think a HO should be able to choose or decline anybody for any reason they like, it’s their home + pets after all. It’s just good to have that info already in the listing / profile, once we applied, confirmed, signed a contract and then the vaccination question came up (we gave the honest but wrong answer).
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This query did not come from me. I’m pretty relaxed about vac and non vac folk.
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You mean you are anxious that your host who chose not have the jab would bring up your choice to get vaccinated?
This is not my post. Someone else asked the question but it been posted up as Creaturecomforts but i did not write it.
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Ah, thank you for the clarification.
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Hi @Creaturecomforts I will direct message you
I’ve had all my vaccinations but have never been asked by a home owner about that and don’t ask owners either. I’m trying to get back to ‘normal’ and think we need to.
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We’ve had 2 COVID vaccinations and 2 boosters (4 jabs all up of different vaccines) plus a host of other vaccinations and we mention this in our applications in the hope it helps us get sits. It has never come up in conversation with home owners and we never queried it with our sitters. Why? It’s just not important anymore. COVID is everywhere, like the flu. We take precautions where we can but if we get sick then so be it. We all are mixing with COVID positive people when we get on planes, public transport, in shops, when walking down the street but we don’t know it. All you can do is take the necessary precautions to protect yourself. We used to wipe down all the hard surfaces with sanitising spray when we got to sits but not anymore. We did a sit in Victoria in July where the home owner had just got over COVID, we all wore masks for the handover outdoors, we did our sanitising wipe down of surfaces and a couple of days later we both got sick! Both tested negative for COVID. But that’s life, it was winter with a terrible flu season in Australia. Yes, we were both vaccinated for the flu! That’s life! I’m more worried about the current UK strep outbreak and worldwide Monkeypox than COVID now!
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I haven’t put that I’m vaccinated, I’ve had 5 jabs and still caught Covid. So the point of the question is irrelevant if it’s to prevent infection. It would then possibly become relevant if the person requesting were interested from an antivax or provax point if view. Millions of people become extremely poorly or die of flu across the world each year so should this extend to requests for proof of flu jabs or measles?
Think the question was only relevant when it was a requirement for travel to or entry to a country.
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I do have it listed in my profile that I have had the two original and 3 boosters. I do know some homeowners may be immunocompromised or older and therefore more susceptible to an infection that would be dire for them. I don’t have a problem if my sitter or a homeowner for whom I’m sitting does not have a vaccine because I do. I have moderate asthma and that may cause a problem for me, so I understand. I think everyone is entitled to do as they feel safe for their own situation. I don’t ask the sitters I’ve interviewed. My dad is going to be having chemotherapy and will be susceptible so I will not visit with him in person if I have been possibly exposed until the incubation period is over. It can be worked out and none of it offends me.
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That’s quite surprising to hear, in Europe we have never seen such a sit (where the HO declared that he/she hasn’t had the jab OR hinted at wanting sitters without the jab). We have had one HO, though, who declared that she would put in her listing such a requirement but we later found out that she never did so (she was a bit frustrated since she was barred from all public venues for months and must have reconsidered later on). It’s to be hoped that this polarization / division / categorization of people will subside and that people will not be judged on account of their personal health decision.
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Ooo! That’s weird @Creaturecomforts. Don’t tell me we now have forum membership hacking 