(CNN) – An already powerful pent-up desire to travel has only increased with the global fatigue of pandemic restrictions and the introduction of vaccines in some countries.
In the United States, many people – as seen in the multitude of joyful springs in Florida and the latest passenger efforts at the airport security post – are already on the move, whether they have been vaccinated or not.
Some Americans are waiting for CDC guidelines on travel for fully vaccinated, while others who have had their shots are already traveling or making plans.
People are asking from different parts of the world, “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 5 miles of their homes for exercise. The United States clearly has far fewer restrictions on movement.
When and how far you can travel – and whether you are the choice – depends on where you live and in many cases on your own risk tolerance.
The spring break has sparked tension in Miami Beach, Florida, over concerns about virus transmission.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Do I have to travel?
There is a low risk of getting or transmitting coronavirus in transit, especially if people travel by private vehicle, says Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. Air travel, especially if everyone is masked, is also pretty safe, she said.
‘If travel in itself has a very low risk, we can not say that people who have been fully vaccinated can travel to different parts of the country to visit their family members, as long as … they do not meet many dangers. people who are in different households? ‘
The CDC said it plans to announce travel guidelines for vaccinated Americans soon.
Even those who have not been vaccinated can travel in a relatively safe way, Wen said if they are with the goal of seeing one other family.
“It has a low risk, and there are ways people who have not been vaccinated can still do it safely. For example, they can be quarantined and tested before the trip,” she said.
Tony Johnston, who comes from Ireland from tourism rather than a medical perspective on the question “should I travel”, has a definite answer in the other direction.
We do not have to travel yet, he says.
“People still need to remain 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, head of the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Recreation Studies. at Athlone Institute of Technology.
Another outbreak of the virus could jeopardize the reopening, he said, pointing out that Ireland’s hospitality industry is still completely closed. Politicians are calling for a very careful reopening, given the staggering number of hospitalizations and deaths in the country after Christmas.
Many Americans are ready to travel, with a record number of pandemic passengers at U.S. airports this month.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
This is the key that happens when you get there
For those who plan to travel, what you do when you arrive at your destination is often a bigger problem than what happens in transit, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said.
“The most careful way to travel is by car, because you can create a protection cocoon, you can run toilets in and out, you can get transit food, you can take cloths with you when you wipe the petrol pump when you refill the tank.
“But again, it’s what you do wherever you go that increases your risk.”
Spring breakers in Florida gather at the beach outside, but then they go to pubs and restaurants “and then they drink a drink or three and the masks come loose, and they talk with enthusiasm and are close to other people spaces for long periods, ”Schaffner said.
Travelers planning to engage in higher risk activities should ideally wait until they are vaccinated, Wen said: “and even then try to pick and choose your activities because you do not want to do everything that a high risk. “
And remember, vaccinations are not an armor, ‘says Schaffner. It is still important to wear masks and maintain as much social distance as possible.
If you are not vaccinated and enter your higher-risk behavior while away, you should be quarantined and then tested as soon as you get home, Wen said.
The best advice for anyone planning to travel soon?
First: “Please do everything you can to get vaccinated. Number 2, if you can not get vaccinated, you must first be tested before you go to make sure you are negative. And number 3, where are you going and what are you doing? Be so careful if possible, “says Schaffner.
He has a colleague who records every phone call with, “Stay out of the bars!”
Good advice, he says.