Flying over the holidays? Tips for reducing your Omicron risk

Los Angeles International Airport expects 3.5 million people to pass through its gates this holiday season, with as many as 200,000 people a day on peak travel dates.

And with no vaccination or testing requirements for domestic air travel in the United States, the Omicron variant is likely to be racking up frequent-flier miles as well.

Before vaccines were available, the guidance for flying was generally “don’t, unless you absolutely have to.” With vaccines now widely accessible to people ages 5 and older, that’s changed. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, told NBC that his children are all boarding flights in the near future.

But not everyone is packing their bags just yet. With the Omicron variant poised to pummel Los Angeles and other population centers, people may be mulling whether they need to cancel their plans entirely. The grim truth is that there is no way to eliminate the risk of catching COVID-19 if you are going into a crowded indoor space like an airport. But there are ways to lower your risk.

If you are flying this week, here’s how to do it as safely as possible.

Before your trip

The best and most effective way to protect yourself is to be fully vaccinated, including a booster shot.

“I actually think you’d be crazy and immoral to fly if you are not vaccinated,” said Paula Cannon, a virology professor at the USC Keck School of Medicine. “Ideally boosted but certainly vaccinated.”

Even if you get the booster only a couple days before your flight, you’ll have some degree of extra protection.

“Anything’s better than nothing,” Cannon said.

If you can get a COVID test before you travel, you should. Omicron seems to cause milder symptoms than previous variants of COVID-19, particularly in fully vaccinated people. You could have it and not know it. (It should go without saying, but: If your test comes back positive, you should not travel, even if you feel totally fine.)

LAX currently offers on-site rapid antigen and PCR (molecular) testing, but they’re not cheap: $125 for a nasal swab PCR test with results in three to five hours, one-hour rapid tests for $199 and one-hour antigen tests at the Tom Bradley International Terminal for $80. Testing must be booked ahead of time online. Alternately, you can find a testing site online or check your local pharmacy or big-box retailer and see if they have rapid tests available for purchase. PCR tests are generally considered more accurate in detecting infections in asymptomatic people.

As with all these prevention measures, testing creates another layer of protection for you and your loved ones. Speaking of layers: Up your mask game. At this point, we know single-layer cloth masks don’t offer the same protection as KN-95s and N95s. Get your hands on one of those types of masks to use during your trip and make sure to wear it properly. There’s also evidence that glasses, goggles or face shields provide some extra bit of protection, though we don’t know how much. If you can wear glasses or bring a face shield, you might as well.

At the airport

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