Fully Vaccinated People May Travel says CDC

CDC officials have stated that fully vaccinated people can once again travel safely as new evidence continues to grow showing the effectiveness of the vaccines in real world application to protect against COVID infections and the spread of the virus.

This news comes as vaccinations in the U.S. have rapidly increased to close to 3 million people a day and the nationwide total has surpassed the milestone of 100 million people getting at least one shot, suggesting that travel for many may once again be on the horizon as summer approaches.

“The CDC’s data suggests that vaccinated individuals don’t transmit the coronavirus, which opens the door much wider for resuming travel, albeit while continuing to carefully follow other health best practices,” said Roger Dow, president of the U.S. Travel Association. “Acknowledging that vaccinations eliminate the need for testing and quarantines removes a key barrier to domestic travel.”

This news is also great for the travel and airline industries which expect to see an even greater boost now in travel demand. This news also comes shortly after TSA Passenger records show throughput at records highs since the pandemic began, and as a result the return of many pilots from furlough and even pilot hiring once again.

This new guidance from the CDC is welcomed by many as more and more people have been awaiting the freedom to be able to take vacations and finally visit missed family members that they haven’t seen in over a year.

Within this guidance, for those traveling within the U.S., people who are two weeks past their second shot no longer need to get a coronavirus test before or after their scheduled trips and no longer need to self-quarantine after travel unless it is required by a state or local jurisdiction.

For international travel, these same people do not need to be tested before they leave the U.S. unless it is required by the destination; however, they should get tested and have a negative result before they board an international flight back to the United States and should be tested again three to five days after they’ve returned.

“The science shows us that getting fully vaccinated allows you to do more things safely and it’s important for us to provide that guidance even in the context of rising cases. … At the same time, we must balance the science with the fact that most Americans are not yet fully vaccinated, which is likely contributing to a rise in cases.” Said the CDC director.