Should I travel? Expert advice in this phase of the pandemic

(CNN) – An already renewed desire to travel has only intensified with the global fatigue of pandemic restrictions and the launch of vaccines in some countries.

In the United States, many people – as seen in the crowds of Florida’s spring parties and the latest passenger trips to airport security checkpoints – are already on the move, whether or not they are vaccinated.

Some Americans are waiting for travel guidance from the CDC for those completely vaccinated, while others who have had their shots already travel or make plans.

People in different parts of the world are asking themselves, “Can I travel – and should I?” The answers are never universal.

In the United Kingdom, travel – domestic or international – is currently banned by the government. In Ireland, citizens must stay within a 5-kilometer radius of their exercise homes. The United States clearly has far fewer traffic restrictions.

When and how far you can travel – and whether your choice is yours – depends on where you live and, in many cases, your own risk tolerance.

Should I travel?

There is a low risk of getting or transmitting coronavirus in transit, especially when people travel by private vehicle, said Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. Traveling by plane, especially when everyone is in the mask, is also quite safe, she said.

“If travel is a very low risk in itself, why can’t we say that fully vaccinated people can travel to different parts of the country to visit their relatives as long as … they don’t gather a lot of unvaccinated people who are in different households? “

The CDC has said it plans to launch travel guides for vaccinated Americans soon.

Even those who have not been vaccinated can travel in a relatively safe way, Wen said, if they go with the goal of seeing another family.

“It’s a low risk and there are ways in which unvaccinated people can do it safely. For example, they can be quarantined and tested before the trip,” she said.

Tony Johnston, coming to the question “should I travel” from Ireland, from a tourism rather than a medical perspective, has a definitive answer in the other direction.

We shouldn’t travel yet, he says.

“People need to stay cautious and conservative for a few more months. The big prize, if people are patient, is that the international tourism industry will reopen sooner rather than later,” said Johnston, who heads the hospitality, tourism and education department. accreditation at the Athlone Institute of Technology.

Another wave of the virus could jeopardize this reopening, he said, noting that Ireland’s hospitality industry is still completely closed. Politicians are calling for a very cautious reopening, given the growing number of hospitalizations and deaths in the country after Christmas.

The key is what happens when you get there

For those planning to travel, what you do when you arrive at your destination is often a bigger concern than what happens in transit, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. .

“The most careful way to travel is by car, because you can create a protective cocoon, you can run and get out of the toilets, you can get drive-through food, you can take the towels with you when you wipe the gas pump when you refill the tank.

“But once again, what you do wherever you go increases your risk.”

Florida’s spring break gathers on the beach outside, but then they go to bars and restaurants, “and then they have a drink or three and the masks come off, they talk enthusiastically and they’re close to other people’s spaces for extended periods of time,” Schaffner said. .

Travelers who intend to engage in higher-risk activities should ideally wait until they are vaccinated, Wen said, “and even then try to choose your activities because you don’t want to do everything that presents a high risk together ”.

And remember, vaccinations are not “armor,” says Schaffner. It is still important to wear masks and keep your social distance as much as possible.

If you are unvaccinated and engage in higher-risk behaviors while you are away, you should be quarantined and then tested after you get home, Wen said.

The best advice for anyone planning to travel soon?

First of all, “please do everything you can to get vaccinated. Number 2, if you can’t get vaccinated, get tested before you go to make sure you’re negative. And number 3, where are you going and what are you going to do? Please be as careful as possible, “says Schaffner.

He has a colleague who signs every phone call with “Stay away from bars!”

Good advice, he says.