- The CDC said its travel guidance for vaccinated people won’t change until more people get shots.
- The agency relaxed some rules for vaccinated people on Monday, but not to do with traveling.
- People have been making vacation plans all the same.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
The CDC won’t update its travel rules for vaccinated people yet, its director said on Wednesday.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that the agency is “really looking forward to updating this guidance,” but isn’t there yet.
Changes will come “as we have more protection across the communities and across the population,” she said.
Walensky was responding to question from the press at a White House briefing on Wednesday.
CDC guidelines for vaccinated people were released on Monday. Fully vaccinated people can now visit other people who have received their full set of jabs and relatives who haven’t received the vaccine indoors.
But the CDC did not update its recommendations for non-essential travel.
The CDC recommends that people do not travel if they can avoid it. If travel is unavoidable, the agency says, vaccinated people should wait 2 weeks after receiving the second dose of vaccine.
Those who have been vaccinated should continue to wear masks and follow CDC advice for social distancing, “just like people who have not yet been vaccinated,” Walensky said.
Cases can surge after people start travelling, Walensky said. “We saw it after July 4th. We saw it after Labor Day. We saw it after the Christmas holidays.”
She stressed that 90% of people in the US are still “unprotected and not yet vaccinated”.
Some 32 million in the US have been fully vaccinated so far, according to John Hopkins University data.
But the White House is concerned by data showing that the decline in US COVID-19 case numbers has started to level out.
Despite the recommendation against non-essential travel, people have still been making bookings for the spring holidays.
Disney World in Florida is booked for the majority of March.
Spring breakers could “spell disaster,” Dr. Peter Hotez, a top global health expert, told CNN. “This is not the time to have a superspreader event,” he said.
The industry group Airlines For America has pushed back against the CDC. Being on a plane poses a low risk because of the air being heavily filtered, the industry group said in a statement reported by CNN.
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