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The CDC Is Asking Unvaccinated Americans To Avoid Travel This Weekend

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While many travelers in the United States are planning a last summer getaway over the busy labor day weekend, the Centers For Disease And Control (CDC) is asking unvaccinated travelers to stay at home due to rising Covid-19 cases.

CDC Recommends Against Traveling Labor Day Weekend

The United States is now surpassing an average of 160,000 new Covid-19 cases a day due to the highly transmissible Delta variant. The rise is concerning officials and health experts, who are recommending that unvaccinated travelers avoid travel this labor day weekend.

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“First and foremost, if you are unvaccinated, we would recommend not traveling,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House COVID-19 Response Team Briefing on Tuesday.

“As people across the country prepare for Labor Day weekend, it’s critical that being vaccinated is part of their pre-holiday checklist,” said Jeff Zients, White House COVID-⁠19 Response coordinator. 

Health experts say that vaccination is the best way to protect against the spread of Covid-19, and many have attribute the recent spike in cases to the large portion of Americans who are unvaccinated.

Traveler-at-Dallas-Airport-wearing-mask

38.6% of eligible Americans are not yet fully vaccinated, according to data from the CDC.

Walensky said that those who are fully vaccinated can travel with precautions, but current transmission rates mean they too need to take Covid-19 risk into consideration when deciding whether or not to travel.

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“Although given where we are with disease transmission right now, we would say that people need to take … these risks into their own consideration as they think about traveling,” Walensky said.

The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated Americans still wear face masks while traveling, which is required for domestic transport after the mask mandate was extended into 2022.

Traveler on beach holding american flag

The CDC's travel recommendations apply to both domestic and international trips. This week, the U.S. updated its travel advisory for Canada and several other countries.

Domestic destinations are still dominating, with 86% of Americans traveling domestically according to TripAdvisor.

Many Americans Are Still Expected To Travel

The TSA said it screened 1.345 million airline passengers on Tuesday, which is the lowest daily number since May. However, the numbers of Americans traveling on labor day weekend last year were the highest since the pandemic began.

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While this year may not be as high, many Americans are still expected to travel over the weekend.

“As summer comes to a close, travel volumes around Labor Day are expected to remain high,” says AAA spokesperson Julie Hall.

Just how high the number will remain to be seen, as many travelers are keeping their travel plans flexible due to the Delta variant.

Traveler-Mask-At-Airport

A recent TripAdvisor survey showed that 31% of Americans have plans to travel over labor day weekend, but 22% are still undecided.

Both TripAdvisor and Orbitz have seen trend in last-minute bookings recently. TripAdvisor reports that 70% of the trips booked on the travel platform during the first week of August were for travel within 3 weeks, along with a rise in search terms like “free cancellation,” “pay at stay,” and “travel safe”

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“With a resurgence of COVID-19 cases attributed to the Delta variant, it’s important to remain informed and be flexible as policies and guidelines continue to evolve,” Hall says.

“For the most part, people who were planning to travel are still taking their trips, while being mindful to take precautions to protect themselves and others.”

Read More:

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Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.


Christian

Wednesday 1st of September 2021

While vaccinated individuals are the factory for mutations and are used as a vessel to spread the virus, it is the unvaccinated whose freedom is being taken away. If the CDC was being honest and was following the science, it wouldn’t make a distinction between the vaccinated and unvaccinated for their Covid restrictions. It is undisputed that the vaccines don’t work on variants and wear off over time.

Liberty

Wednesday 1st of September 2021

CDC is a joke

Martina

Wednesday 1st of September 2021

Didn't the CDC release a study recently were 3 out of 4 people with covid are vaccinated people? So why ask the non vaxxed to stay home? At the end it is their choice of they want to risk it or not.

Eduardo Gomez

Wednesday 1st of September 2021

"Flatten the Curve" "Delta" "Lambda" "Alpha" "Beta" "BS Excuse goes here" We got excuses for lockdowns for the next 10 years and 10 jabs.

Dennis Mahood

Wednesday 1st of September 2021

After the Delta is gone what are they going to use to keep us from traveling.

R

Thursday 2nd of September 2021

@Vlad, if you took the vaccine how are you in danger lol? And anyways. Vaccinated people can still spread covid, and can be silent super spreaders you’re so misinformed smh. And you even admit there’ll be endless nonsense fake variants and your only solution is “get muh non functioning pointless vaccine “ wake up for god’s sake

Eduardo Gomez

Wednesday 1st of September 2021

@Vlad, "stay home and don't get anyone in danger" is idiotic. Already proven a million times the vaxxed can infect others too. I dare you to tell unvaxxed people off in the real world. Because you know how that will end.

Martina

Wednesday 1st of September 2021

@Dennis Mahood, there is the Lambda and Gamma variant already on their way

Vlad

Wednesday 1st of September 2021

@Dennis Mahood, After Delta is gone there will be lambda, epsilon, zetta etc. because some of my fellow US Citizen can't get their sh**t together! And don't even start this "man's right" thing: no one will force you to vaccinate. But if you choose not to, just stay home and don't get anyone around you in danger! As simple as that!