Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading US expert on infectious diseases, said on Monday that the country's authorities should consider imposing vaccination requirements for domestic air travel due to the increase in COVID-19 infections.
The Biden administration has so far refrained from doing so. Two officials said Biden's science advisers have yet to make formal recommendations to the president on such a requirement, but a decision could be made shortly.
Fauci, chief scientific adviser to President Joe Biden on the pandemic response, said such a mandate could increase vaccination rates in the country, as well as provide better flight protection. Federal regulations currently require all passengers two years of age and older to wear masks on US airline flights "When you make vaccinations (on board) a requirement, this is another incentive to vaccinate more people," Fauci said. on air MSNBC.
Meanwhile, officials who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the introduction of mandatory vaccination requirements for domestic flights could pose a host of logistical and legal challenges. The United States currently requires that most foreign nationals entering the country be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, although citizens and permanent residents only need to show proof of a negative test result within 24 hours. Federal regulations do not require people traveling by air within the United States to test negative. Only when traveling to Hawaii is proof of vaccination required, thus avoiding mandatory quarantine.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of Monday showed that more than 241 million Americans, about 77 percent of the population age five and older, have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. However, officials believe that these numbers are somewhat overestimated due to accounting errors in the use of booster vaccines. Meanwhile, on December 27, U.S. health officials lowered isolation restrictions for Americans who contracted the coronavirus from 10 days to five days, and also cut the time it takes to quarantine loved ones.
bbabo.Net