On Friday, the CDC announced new guidelines for this year’s holidays. Not surprisingly, they recommend that unvaccinated individuals should not travel until they get the Covid-19 vaccine. The CDC states, “Holiday traditions are important for families and children. There are several ways to enjoy holiday traditions and protect your health….”
The CDC acknowledges that holidays are a time when generations of family members gather. They recommend that to minimize risk to children who can’t be vaccinated, individuals who can, should be vaccinated. It should be noted that fully vaccinated individuals can still pass on the virus.
The CDC also updated guidelines for unvaccinated individuals who “must” travel during the holiday season.
This includes testing before and after the trip, self-quarantining for one week post-travel, and wearing a face mask. They also recommend “choosing safer travel options,” including keeping road trips short with few stops, taking flights with fewer layovers, not staying in hotels with common areas, and not “visiting an unvaccinated family member’s or friend’s home.”
People who are not fully vaccinated are recommended to wear face coverings while in indoor settings.
The recommendation goes as far as to say, “Even those who are fully vaccinated should wear a mask in public indoor settings in communities with substantial to high transmission.” They also add that being outdoors is significantly safer than gathering indoors. Immunocompromised individuals are advised to take the same precautions as unvaccinated people, even if they’re fully vaccinated with a booster.
The CDC is not shy about recommending face-masks for anyone age 2 and older in public spaces where people from different households are gathering. The masking recommendation runs counter to the World Health Organization, whose recommendations state, “Children aged 5 years and under should not be required to wear masks.”
While recommendations this year seem strict, they are nothing compared to the prescriptive measures of 2020. During Halloween last year, it was recommended not to engage in traditional trick-or-treating. Instead, the CDC recommended individually wrapped goodie bags that kids could take from a distance. This year, they are not providing any holiday-specific guidelines.
Holiday travel may be affected since 40% of TSA agents remain unvaccinated as of October 13. Biden’s mandate for all civilian federal government workers to be vaccinated is November 22.
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