US Coronavirus: Flying home after the holidays? Getting vaccinated or boosted is
“If you’ve only gotten two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, even though that officially counts as fully vaccinated, we know that its impact on breakthrough symptomatic illness is close to zero,” Hotez told CNN’s Amara Walker Saturday.
The initial two-dose regiment will still protect “better for serious illness,” he said, “but you still need to get boosted, I think, if you want to travel safely.”
Millions of Americans who are immunocompromised should delay future travel plans for a few weeks if possible in the hope that the current surge won’t span as long as previous ones, Hotez said.
And due to the infectiousness of Omicron, “even if you’re boosted, you have to face the possibility that you could get symptomatic breakthrough illness going through airports and going on Ubers,” he said.
Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said while there’s always a risk to contract the virus while traveling, there are mitigation efforts available.
“So if someone has been exposed in your orbit or in your circle, or has been infected, you don’t have to assume everybody has it. Do continue to do things like wearing masks around people or testing,” Faust told CNN’s Boris Sanchez Saturday.
And for those traveling, Faust advises to look for “the weak links in the chain.”
“It’s not necessarily the actual airplane itself. It might be the airport line in the bathroom where you need to be extra careful with masks and other mitigation measures,” he said. “And I think depending on your threshold, you have to adjust accordingly.”
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