CDC Offers Travel Advice to Vaccinated Americans, But Doesn’t Advocate O Against Travel

The new guide outlines a series of new recommendations that fully immunized people can take when traveling nationally or internationally. The CDC defines being fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the Johnson & Johnson JNJ vaccine, a single dose at -0.92% or the second dose of the Moderna Inc. MRNA, + 1.22% or Pfizer Inc. PFE vaccines , + 0.19%. Domestic travelers are not required to be tested or quarantined if vaccinated, the CDC noted in the new guidelines. Fully vaccinated international travelers do not need to self-quarantine upon return to the US, but must still have a negative COVID-19 test before boarding a flight to the US and get another test within three to five. days after return. . However, much of the new CDC travel guide differs from state or local rules on COVID-19 testing and quarantine or the rules set by the few countries that allow Americans to visit at this time.

The CDC also warned that vaccinated Americans should still take precautions while traveling, including wearing face masks and social distancing. Your travel guide for unvaccinated people remains the same. About 17% of the US population is fully vaccinated, as of April 1, and about 30% of people have received a dose of the mRNA vaccines, according to the latest data from the CDC. Walensky said the recent increase in COVID-19 cases is concerning (the United States currently has a 7-day average of about 62,000 cases per day) and that is why he advocates “against general travel in general” despite recorded increase in travel to pre-pandemic levels in March. “Our guide doesn’t say anything about recommending or not recommending that fully vaccinated people travel,” Walensky said. “Our guide talks about the safety of doing it. If you’re vaccinated, the risk is lower. ”Even before the CDC released its new relaxed guidelines for the fully immunized, travelers were already booking travel in response to the launch of COVID-19 vaccines. More than 1.57 million People traveled through airports on Sunday, March 28, according to data from the Transportation Security Administration, representing a record number of travelers passing through airports since March 2020 when the pandemic began.

The number of people traveling is only expected to grow this year. Domestic flight searches for this summer have risen 58% over the past month, according to Adit Damodaran, an economist at the travel app Hopper, and Americans’ domestic flight searches have now surpassed 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Since domestic travel searches account for two-thirds of total flight searches, there has been renewed interest in international travel to countries that have reopened their borders to people who are immunized. There was a 93% increase in searches for flights to Iceland after the country announced in mid-March that it would allow vaccinated travelers, including Americans, to enter its borders, according to Hopper. “Based on the search patterns we have observed when these countries have issued reopening announcements, we hope that the new CDC guidance could lead to a giant increase in search demand for international flights,” said Damodaran. Meanwhile, tour operators have begun imposing their own requirements that vacationers be fully vaccinated before traveling. Several cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean International RCL, + 1.24%, and Virgin Voyages, have introduced vaccine requirements for some or all of their current bookings from non-US ports of US ports since updating their guide to US ports. cruise lines last fall.