Fully vaccinated individuals can safely travel inside the U.S. and internationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in new guidance released Friday, though they should still wear a mask when traveling on public transportation, including airplanes.
The CDC says recent research on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines indicates there is low risk to vaccinated individuals and that they can travel without a COVID-19 test or quarantining after traveling.
Still, the CDC is not “recommending” travel at this time due to the rising number of cases, according to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
The CDC is only recommending testing for travelers who are returning to the U.S. from international travel — keeping in place an order it announced in mid-January that requires all US-bound passengers to present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding.
The CDC is still recommending unvaccinated people avoid all nonessential travel.
The new guidance comes as nearly a third of the country’s adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC defines a person as “fully-vaccinated” two weeks after they’ve received their last dose. In the case of Johnson & Johnson, a one-shot vaccine, that means two weeks after the first and only shot. For Pfizer and Moderna, it’s two weeks after the second shot.
The CDC has said it will continue to update guidance about how to socialize, travel and return to workplaces as more Americans get vaccinated.
Source-ABC
