More than a year into the pandemic, many families who got stuck at home are itching to go on vacation. But do not pack your bags yet, experts say.
While more adults are being vaccinated against the coronavirus every day, children, especially younger ones, are not expected to get the vaccine for months.
Does this mean that it is now safe to take the long delayed journey if all the adults in your family have been vaccinated?
The official answer: No travel. The experts’ answer: Some travel can be safe.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends using non-essential travel, even for those who have been fully vaccinated. But as Covid-19 rates fall, the lead could change.
NBC News spoke to seven pediatric health experts about the risks of a family holiday before children are vaccinated. The unanimity among them was that safe family getaways would be possible by summer or fall, provided Covid-19 cases are few.
“One of the biggest determinants of how safe things are is how many viruses circulate,” said Dr. Andrew Pavia, head of the Department of Infectious Diseases in Children at the University of Utah Health. “Once the transfer in your community and at the place you travel to drops dramatically, everything becomes safer.”
Children do not get so sick. Does that mean they can’t spread the virus?
The overall risk to healthy children of the coronavirus was mercifully low. Children are generally more likely to have mild cases of Covid-19 than adults. It also appears that young children are less likely to spread the virus than adults.
But they can still transmit Covid-19 to other people, and although it is rare, there have been serious and fatal cases in children.
“Children are not risk-free,” says Dr. Kelly Fradin, a New York City pediatrician who is the author of “Parenting in a Pandemic: How to Help Your Family Through Covid-19.” “We want to realistically balance that it has a low risk, but not an absolute risk.”
This does not mean that all travel should be banned, says dr. Sean O’Leary, vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Children’s Hospital Colorado. .
“It’s really a personal decision, and depends on a lot of different factors.”
‘It’s really a personal decision and depends on many different factors. Does the child have underlying health issues that may pose a higher risk? ‘he said, referring to conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cystic fibrosis and asthma.
It is important to consider the health of others as well, he added. ‘Does the parent have a high risk? Are they going to come home to a household where there is a frail, elderly person? ‘
What is the safest way to get to our destination?
Your mode of transport and how much exposure it can bring is something you need to consider, said dr. Ibukun Akinboyo, an assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Duke University, said. This is the best option to drive with your own car, and she advised travelers to investigate whether there will be crowds when they arrive at their destination.
She said she advises the families of her patients to ask themselves, “Can you maintain a bubble if you are going on the trip?”
Can we go to the beach or a water park? What about a cruise?
Buddy Creech, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program, says the safest type of holiday is mostly outdoors and where it is reasonable to expect everyone to give up social distance and wear masks.
“If a patient were to say, ‘We’re going to the beach,’ I would not be frustrated by this, provided they take the necessary precautions when they are outside their family unit,” he said. by everyone in the family who is 2 and older, even if the country you are traveling to is no longer masks.
Creech said he would be a little more hesitant if families wanted to travel to other outdoor attractions, such as water parks. It seems that water itself does not pose an inherent risk for the transmission of the virus, but it may stand in long queues to ride the rides.
Cruises, on the other hand, are a definite no.
“Any activity outside and spread out has a lower risk than indoor, grouped, shared equipment activities.”
“Any outdoor and outdoor activities are at lower risk than indoor, grouped, shared equipment activities, and I think that would directly apply to something like a cruise,” Akinboyo said.
Will the virus go away if most of us are vaccinated?
Experts call on everyone, whether or not vaccinated, to continue wearing masks in public. Although the vaccines have been shown to drastically reduce the risk of hospitalization and death after capturing Covid-19, vaccinated individuals may still have less severe cases.
And while there is encouraging evidence that the vaccines can protect against infection and transmission, information is still being gathered on whether the vaccinated can spread the virus to those who have not been vaccinated.
“Just because you are protected does not necessarily mean that you cannot become a carrier,” he said. Frank Esper, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, said. His research focuses on viral respiratory infections and fits recognized infectious diseases.
Kids can visit grandparents now, right?
Despite the unanswered questions, early indications of vaccine efficacy are so promising that the CDC specifically allowed this month to vaccinate inside, mask-free reunions between grandparents, vaccinated grandchildren and their unvaccinated parents, provided no one is vaccinated. . is at risk for complications from Covid-19.
How you can reach such visits as safely as possible may depend on how far grandparents live. When they ride a plane, it gets more complicated.
‘Depending on the length of the flight, depending on whether your children are sitting next to other people, or being forced into masks, how you get to and from the airport, children are at a higher risk’ of catching the coronavirus, just like anyone otherwise still to be vaccinated, Pavia said.
How do we reduce exposure while flying?
While aircraft have air filtration systems to protect passengers during flights, crowded airports could pose a risk, experts say.
As for the flight itself, it is directly the best if possible; shorter flights are ideal; and if you’re traveling with kids, reduce the number of times they need to take off their mask during the flight, which means you should not travel during meals or snacks, O’Leary said. He also suggested double masking or wearing face masks on top of masks on flights.
Which is safer: hotels or airbnbs?
As long as hotels successfully reduce congestion in common areas, such as portals, the experts were not strong about staying in a hotel, but not in a holiday home.
Should we worry about the variants?
There are still many that are not yet known.
“We have yet to determine how long the protection will be offered by these vaccines, especially in the form of variants,” Fradin said, adding that the vaccines believe it provides at least 8 to 9 months of protection, but can then wear off immunity.
Widespread travel could unnecessarily spread a variant from one part of the country to another, hampering efforts to climb out of the pandemic, she said.
The deciding factor: is the risk worth it for your family?
The bottom line, according to the experts, is to stick as long as possible with planning an extended trip. While vaccines are quickly approved for adults, the process takes longer for children because studies need to be done to give the exact dose.
Meanwhile, travel should be limited.
“Think about whether the risk is really worth it for your family,” said Dr. Grace Lee, an expert on infectious diseases at Stanford Children’s Hospital, said. ‘If you can only hang tight for weeks to a few months, we’ll be in a better situation. The risk will decrease only by having the majority of the population vaccinated. ”