It's time to require vaccination proof or negative tests for domestic air travel

 

Only masks are required for domestic air travel

"Biden is right to fight Omicron with travel restrictions. But more must be done."

This was the headline over a recent opinion piece by Dr. Leana S. Wen published recently in the Washington Post.

Wen is a a public health professor at George Washington University who writes regularly on Covid for the Post. Her main point: Now is the time to pull out all the stops when it comes to protecting Americans against Covid. That, in her opinion, includes a long-overdue vaccine requirement for domestic air and interstate train travel. 

As it stands, travelers can feel more confident about avoiding Covid risks on a flight to Paris or Rome than they can flying within the United States to cities where cases are raging.

This is because nearly every country in the world requires international travelers to be either vaccinated, or test negative, quarantine and test again several days after arrival.

The U.S. requires all Americans returning from overseas to show results of a negative test taken within one day of travel. Most foreign travelers are required to do the same, as well as show prooof of vaccination.

Contrast this to boarding a domestic flight where neither the airlines or federal regulators require anyone to have taken a recent test, or show proof of vaccination. Frankly it's safer to eat inside a restaurant in Seattle, where proof of vaccination is mandatory, than it is to board a flight to Boise. 

The Internatonal Air Transport Association brought home this point the other day when David Powell, its medical advisor, told Bloomberg News that the risk of infection from Omicron on planes is assumed to be two or three times greater than it was with Delta.

This was ironic because the ATA, along with other airline trade groups, have lobbied hard to prevent testing or vaccination mandates for domestic flights.

 "Getting vaccinated and boosted is "the greatest protection you can give yourself," Powell  concluded.

He and others went on to recommend other "precautions" such as staying hydrated, sitting in a window seat, cranking up the air vent, and wearing a proper mask (still required on domestic flights).

Unfortunately, as Dr. Wen points out, no one in the government has had the guts to buck the airline industry, and do what really needs to be done to keep travelers safe: Require proof of vaccination or a negative test taken within one to three days of travel. 

In addition to increased protection, it would seem that a vaccine  and/or testing mandate would offer greater peace of mind for consumers, who then might be more eager to book flights.

A study conducted by Atmosphere Research Group found that 14% of airline passengers were not vaccinated, which means they would be unable to fly if vaccination proof were required,

The data intelligence company Morning Consult, reports that when given the choice back in October, 56 percent of adults said they would prefer to fly with an airline that required passengers and employees to be vaccinated. Roughly 1 in 4 (23 percent) said they’d prefer to travel with an airline that does not require anyone to be vaccinated.

“Not only is this an opportunity because people are in support of vaccines for domestic air travel, but it also might help to compel some of those people who are putting off their air travel because they feel uncertain or unsafe, and could give them a level of comfort that they’re not getting right now,” said Lindsey Roeschke, Morning Consult’s travel and hospitality analyst. She advised airlines to adopt vaccine mandates in an Oct. 7 memo. 

Trade associations such as Airlines for America and the U.S. Travel Association oppose vaccine and testing mandates, arguing that the additional checks would have a chilling effect on the industry.

“We think it’s a really dangerous proposition, quite frankly,” Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy at U.S. Travel, said at the time. “The risk of masked passengers contracting an airborne virus like COVID-19 is extremely unlikely.” 

It's time to recognize that much has changed in the past few weeks. And if what the ITA's  Powell says is true, Barnes' assumption no longer holds up. 

As for travel in general, a trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving reminded me it's probably safer to be in some parts of Europe or Asia than in many places in the United States.

Yes, Omicron is raging there too, but their defenses against the virus are much more robust. They include highly-vaccinated populations, masking requirements and health passes requiring proof of vaccination to get into a restaurant, cafe, museum, hotel or train, or in Italy, to work at most jobs.

Only 58 percent of the population in my hometown of Cincinnati was fully-vaccinated as of Dec. 21, yet hardly anyone there wears masks inside stores or restaurants (there are no mandates), socially distances or takes other standard Covid precautions. 

Contrast this to where I live in Seattle where 87 percent of the residents in King County have had at least two doses of the vaccine. There's a statewide mask mandate for indoor public places, and a county-wide mandate requiring proof of vaccination for dining indoors.

This week, thousands of Americans from the Midwest and East Coast will be heading to Florida for winter vacations. This is an area where there are no statewide Covid travel mandates in place, and the governor has attempted to punish cruise lines, private employers and school districts which attempt to require masks, testing or vaccination.

"Florida breaks another record for COVID-19 cases." read one Christmas Day headline. "COVID-19 outbreaks hit 3 cruise ships as Florida breaks record for new cases," read another 

It's hard to say how this helps rather than hurts tourism. I recently postponed a planned January trip to see relatives until mid-February. Hopefully by then, the headlines will change.