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Home » News » CDC: It’s Safe To Travel If You’re Vaccinated
News

CDC: It’s Safe To Travel If You’re Vaccinated

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 2, 2021November 14, 2023 17 Comments

a woman sitting on a stone wall overlooking a city

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has backtracked and now says it is safe for Americans who are vaccinated to travel both domestically and internationally. Thank goodness the politics caught up with the science.

CDC: Vaccinated Americans Are Free To Travel (Cautiously)

The CDC now says:

Americans who are fully vaccinated can travel “at low risk to themselves,” both within the United States and internationally, but they must continue to take precautions like wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowds, maintaining social distancing and washing hands frequently, federal health officials said on Friday.

This comes not from political pressure, but data. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky recently told Rachel Maddow:

“[O]ur data from the CDC today suggests, you know, that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don’t get sick, and that it’s not just in the clinical trials but it’s also in real world data.”

When Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked last month to defend the science behind denying travel to vaccinated Americans, he could not do it, admitting it came down to a political decision.

Fauci, asked “what’s the science” for denying vaccinated Americans a return to travel, can’t explain.

“When you don’t have the data and you don’t have the actual evidence, you’ve got to make a judgment call.” pic.twitter.com/lftvNzgA6J

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 10, 2021

View from the Wing has been fighting the good fight, and taking a lot of heat for it. I’ve chosen to stay on the sidelines, though it does not take an epidemiologist to ascertain that the highly-effective vaccines mean that is much safer to travel than before. Indeed, it not only safer, but safe by any reasonable risk-benefit analysis.

The science is clear: approved vaccines are incredibly effective at preventing illness, hospitalization, and death. Yes, they even help in reducing transmission to others.

Note, the CDC has also dropped its rule requiring fully vaccinated international travelers to quarantine after returning to the USA.

CONCLUSION

As a COVID-19 “survivor” who had no smell for six weeks, I cannot underscore the seriousness of taking proper precautions like social distancing and wearing masks. This isn’t about a denial of the lethal seriousness of this virus.

And yet just like so much in life, finding that tricky balance is key. Perfect safety is simply unachievable. Some will be more cautious than others. That is fine and should be respected. But I am thankful the CDC has recognized what has been clear: vaccinations are effective and liberating.

Final word: get vaccinated. Get vaccinated ASAP. Under President Biden’s guidance, states must shortly make the vaccination available to ALL residents. Let’s push family and friends to get vaccinated so that our new “normal” can resume as soon as possible.

It’s time to get back to work. We have a stimulus package and infrastructure bill to pay for.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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17 Comments

  1. Tom Reply
    April 2, 2021 at 12:57 pm

    I’m getting pumped for international travel to reopen in the next 3-6 months. Singapore Airlines has successfully trialed the vaccine pass phone app developed by IATA. Great news.

    In regards to the vaccine: In ALL vaccine trials, not a single person who received the vaccine (not placebo) were hospitalized or died due to Covid. I think these far left wing nut jobs got some sort of hard-on for living in constant fear and in a bubble. The bubble part is not surprising though as that’s nothing new for extremists of any kind. I’m traveling, my family is traveling, my friends are traveling. It’s a wonderful world out there!

    https://youtu.be/K3odScka55A

  2. Joe Chivas Reply
    April 2, 2021 at 12:58 pm

    Stay home, stay safe, save lives. Together we can flatten the curve.

  3. George Reply
    April 2, 2021 at 1:38 pm

    CDC has to be the stupidest bureaucracy ever.

    This is a ‘no duh’ for years. But, every government agency has been wrong about Covid since Feb 2020.
    And we’ve all suffered for it.

    I hope a lot of people get fired and put in prison. Starting with Fauci.’

    I’m traveling full time, with no vaccine, all international.
    You guys have been missing out. It’s been the best travel of my life!
    We’re having so much fun while people like @Joe Chivas have been trolling online 🙂

  4. Derek Reply
    April 2, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    If the CDC said this

    ““[O]ur data from the CDC today suggests, you know, that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don’t get sick, and that it’s not just in the clinical trials but it’s also in real world data.””

    Why do the vaccinated need to wear masks and social distance? They just said they do not carry the virus or get sick

    Or are there “equity” issues going on where people will feel bad if they have to wear masks while others do not?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      April 2, 2021 at 2:00 pm

      There are equity issues. It’s politics. But I’m happy to play the mask game a bit longer.

  5. Derek Reply
    April 2, 2021 at 2:16 pm

    @Matthew

    I suspected it was politics for saying the vaccinated should still wear masks.

    However, with the hard data we now have, plus the vaccine roll out to everyone, there is no good reason to extend the federal airplane mask mandate beyond its May expiration

  6. Mitch Cumstein Reply
    April 2, 2021 at 2:31 pm

    And so ends the golden age of travel. RIP

  7. DMNYC Reply
    April 2, 2021 at 2:47 pm

    @Matthew , a few things:

    1. This is great news, of course, and thank you for what I see as the most responsible headline and article among the bloggers I’ve seen write about this. Gary’s headline suggested that the CDC is saying everyone SHOULD travel, and OMAAT said that the CDC is “encouraging” people to travel, neither of which is true.

    The CDC is saying that for vaccinated travelers, the risk is low. And while people should feel safe while traveling, they are not suggesting you go out and just start traveling all over the place just because. Of course, proper masking and distancing are recommended, so thank you for emphasizing the importance of that.

    2. To be fair to Dr. Fauci, he is not saying the science concluded otherwise and that the decision was purely political. I think he was noting that in the absence of clear evidence, they err on the side of caution. It’s the same reason why, although there is some trial evidence that the vaccines are effective at blunting asymptomatic transmission, they still recommend masking and distancing.

  8. Brian L. Reply
    April 2, 2021 at 11:05 pm

    While this is great news, the cynic in me is thinking that the CDC is dropping these things because their director is finally admitting that no one’s listening to her anyway.

  9. Nate nate Reply
    April 3, 2021 at 12:20 am

    Did you regain your sense of smell after 6 weeks?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      April 3, 2021 at 1:37 am

      Thankfully, yes. And fully.

  10. Brian CoVid Reply
    April 3, 2021 at 1:56 am

    And Brian from The Gate has a timely article on why he won’t get the vaccine (while shielding his anti-vaxx stance)… I’m sure any official guidance will “convince” him to change his tune.

  11. emercycrite Reply
    April 3, 2021 at 4:41 am

    Just the thing to lull everyone into a false sense of security.

  12. Santastico Reply
    April 3, 2021 at 10:42 am

    “Under President Biden’s guidance, states must shortly make the vaccination available to ALL residents.”

    LOL!!! This is the biggest political BS of the century. Yes, all 16+ are ELIGIBLE. Now, getting the vaccine is another problem. It is like Hunger Games out there to get a vaccine. There is NOT enough vaccine available so everyone can get it. It will take months for everyone that wants a vaccine to be able to get one.

  13. Derek Reply
    April 3, 2021 at 10:48 am

    @Santastico

    It’s not that hard to get the vaccine in Texas. Took us a whole 5 minutes to make our appointment for this coming Monday.

    Just had to do 5 minutes to searching on different pharmacies

  14. Santastico Reply
    April 3, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    @Derek: Try that in MN. There is a FB group called “Minnesota Vaccine Hunters” which was created couple weeks ago and has now 61k members. That is the place people share where you can get a vaccine. To give you an idea, people are driving 3 to 4 hours outside the Minneapolis metro area to find an available spot to get the vaccine. My health provider for example has not started offering vaccines for ages younger than 65. Thus, it is like Hunger Games. Everyone is eligible. Go fight for it.

    BTW, I know most people that traveled for Spring Break went to places where they could get a vaccine.

  15. Suz Reply
    April 3, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    If everyone has access to a vaccine, which isn’t long–AND IT IS FREE–there are not equity issues, but CHOICE issues. It should be as simple as showing a vaccine card (in some way, IATA, VeriFly, etc, or, for Pete’s Sake, I will hold up my dang card!) with the boarding pass. YOu want people to get vaccinated? Flying is a CHOICE, and isn’t really equitable anyway. Let’s be honest. On my way home from a doctor’s appointment, I flew to Chicago to a Cubs game, and I am flying home in F tomorrow–on a 777–and writing an article about it–for someone. I know darn well that’s a stinking privilege most people don’t have. I am MASSIVELY GRATEFUL. I do not take it for granted. But it’s not equitable. My point is, if people on a plane are told, you must wear a mask unless you show proof of vaccination through X method, that will push people to make that decision. Then you know you’re next to a vaccinated person (it seems the ones with disabilities are singled out in other ways). On my flight to my doctor’s appointment, some of us talked about that. The majority of us were already fully vaccinated. If every American has access in May and can get vaccinated soon–Good Friday we did, what, 3 million, then it is time.

    Funny aside, the Captain of my flight to ORD said, “and one more announcement, folks. Someone had to go and make a federal case out of it, so now we all have to wear masks, everywhere, in the airport, on the ramp, on the bus in the terminal, in the doors, you name it, or we can get fined, so let’s just do it…” He sounded irritated it had become a FEDERAL case when it was already the case with every single carrier. Many people are about ready to say, get your vaccine or YOU choose to stay home.

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