Fully vaccinated people can travel in U.S. without tests or quarantines, CDC says

People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can travel freely in the U.S., as long as they remain masked on planes, buses and trains, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday.

The new guidance means that “fully vaccinated grandparents can fly to visit their healthy grandkids without getting a Covid-19 test, or self-quarantining, provided they follow the other recommended prevention measures,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday during a news briefing.

Still, the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise. The current seven-day average of new cases is slightly above 62,000 cases per day.

While fully vaccinated people may travel at low risk, Walensky said, “CDC is not recommending travel at this time due to the rising number of cases.”

A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their last dose of Covid-19 vaccine. That gives the body enough time to build antibodies against the virus.

This latest guidance offers another step toward resuming normal activity for those who have received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shots or one shot of the single-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.

And mitigation measures remain even for vaccinated travelers: wear masks, avoid large crowds and wash hands frequently.

Indeed, all U.S. airlines still require passengers to wear masks.

“Taking prevention measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 is the path out of this pandemic,” Walensky said.

Erika Edwards is a health and medical news writer and reporter for NBC News and “TODAY.”

Category: Science

Source: NBC