The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still wants people to stay put and not travel. This includes fully vaccinated individuals. The CDC still wants to wait until more Americans have been vaccinated before they announce a new travel guidance.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that “What we have seen is that we have surges after people start traveling”. She also said that an updated travel guidance will have to wait for now until “we have more protection across communities ad across the population”. According to the CDC’s latest count, only 10% of Americans have been vaccinated so far.
Travel Guidance is a Debatable Topic
The resumption of air travel causes a lot of debate. Some industries are pushing back against the CDC’s approach. Industry group Airlines for America is insistent that heavily filtered air plus mandated mask-wearing lowers the risk of air travel.
New Guidelines for Fully Vaccinated Individuals
The CDC’s guidance says that fully vaccinated individuals could already gather indoors without masks and physical distancing. CDC also says that they can meet people who aren’t vaccinated. They also don’t need to take a COVID19 test if exposed to a person with COVID19 and is asymptomatic.
However, there are still instances when fully vaccinated individuals still need to practice precautions. CDC still wants fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks when they are around unvaccinated individuals who are at risk of developing severe COVID19.
The CDC defines fully vaccinated individuals as those who received complete doses of the vaccine after two weeks. For individuals who received Moderna or Pfizer COVID19 vaccines, that’s two weeks past the second dose. If the individual received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, that’s two weeks after the single dose.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki mentioned that the Biden Administration pledged that it is going to let the health and medical experts call the shots. She also mentioned that the guidance is “just a first step”.
