Travel Restrictions Relaxed For COVID-19 Vaccinated Persons

The US Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) on Friday updated its guidance for domestic travel for fully vaccinated people, relaxing its restrictions for travel as it lifted self-quarantine and testing conditions while still pushing necessary precautions such as physical distancing and wearing masks.

Health officials, however, remain firm in discouraging nonessential travel amid a stark rise in COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions.

Vaccines Have "High Efficacy" Against COVID-19

According to a CDC brief, evidence shows the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are "both efficacious and effective against symptomatic, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, including severe forms of the disease."

The CDC added that additional evidence reveals the vaccines may likewise decrease asymptomatic infection and potentially, transmission.

"Substantial reductions in SARS-CoV-2 infections (both symptomatic and asymptomatic) will have the positive benefit of helping to reduce overall levels of disease, and therefore, transmission in the United States," the CDC further said.

Further studies, however, are ongoing to assess the COVID-19 vaccine's impact on transmission.

Travel Restrictions Eased — Marco Lopez on Unsplash

All authorized vaccines, the CDC emphasized, show an efficacy range of 65 to 95 percent against symptomatic, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. The overall efficacy of each vaccine was similar to the efficacy covering various demographics, such as the elderly or young adults, or people with pre-existing conditions, and groups of different races and ethnicities.

For severe cases of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, the authorized vaccines demonstrated an efficacy rate of up to 89 percent. The vaccines were also proven to be highly effective against COVID-19 associated deaths.

Preliminary trials also suggest that the vaccines can protect against asymptomatic infection.

Relaxed Travel Restrictions for Fully Vaccinated People

As such, the CDC noted that "people who are fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorized vaccine can travel safely within the United States."

The new guidelines are welcome news to the increasing number of vaccinated adults who want to visit family or take vacations for the first time since the outbreak last year. These would also boost airline and travel industries seeking to recover from their setbacks due to restrictions.

The CDC made the relaxed guidance due to the scientifically proven high efficacy of the vaccines and the rapid pace of vaccinations, reaching about three million people a day. Over 100 million people in the US have been vaccinated.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that while the science shows that being vaccinated allows people to do more things safely, "We must balance the science with the fact that most Americans are not yet fully vaccinated, which is likely contributing to a rise in cases."

The national public health agency aims to strengthen its messaging push for mask-wearing and physical distancing.

For travel within the US, fully vaccinated people need not take a COVID-19 test two weeks after their final vaccine shot before or after the trip, and go under self-quarantine after travel unless the state or city requires it.

This means grandparents can visit their grandchildren without having to take a COVID-19 test or undergo self-quarantine, provided they follow health protocols such as wearing masks in public.

For foreign trips, travelers who were fully vaccinated need not take a COVID-19 test before leaving the US, unless it is required by the destination country. Travelers, however, are required to get a negative result before they board the flight back, and take another test within three to five days after arrival.