(CNN) – The already powerful accumulated desire to travel has only intensified with the global fatigue of pandemic restrictions and the deployment of vaccines in some countries.
In the United States, many people, as seen between the crowds of spring break holidaymakers in Florida and the latest passenger advances at airport security checks, are already on the move, whether vaccinated or not.
Some Americans are waiting for CDC travel guidelines for vaccinated people to be fully vaccinated, while others who have been shot are already traveling or making plans.
People ask from different corners of the world, “Can I travel and should I?” The answers are never universal.
In the UK, travel, national or international, is currently banned by the government. In Ireland, citizens must stay within a 5-mile radius of their home to exercise. It is clear that the United States has far fewer restrictions on movement.
When and how far you can travel, and whether the choice is yours, depends on where you live and, in many cases, your own risk tolerance.
Spring break has caused tensions in Miami Beach, Florida, over concerns about virus transmission.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Do I have to travel?
There is a low risk of contracting or transmitting coronavirus during traffic, especially when people travel in private vehicles, said Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at the University of Milken Institute’s School of Public Health. George Washington. Air travel, especially when everyone is masked, is also pretty safe, he said.
“If travel has a very low risk on its own, why can’t we say that fully vaccinated people can travel to different parts of the country to visit their relatives as long as they’re not gathering a lot of unvaccinated people? do they find in different homes? “
The CDC has said it plans to release travel guidelines for vaccinated Americans soon.
Even those who haven’t been vaccinated can travel in a relatively safe way, Wen said, if they go with the goal of seeing another family.
“It’s a low risk and there are ways for unvaccinated people to do it safely. For example, they can be quarantined and tested before the trip,” he said.
Tony Johnston, when it comes to the question “should I travel” from Ireland from a tourism and non-medical standpoint, has a definitive answer in the other direction.
We shouldn’t travel yet, he says.
“People need to stay cautious and conservative for a few more months. The big prize, if people have patience, is that the international tourism industry will reopen sooner rather than later,” said Johnston, who is head of the department. of hospitality, tourism and leisure studies at the Athlone Institute of Technology.
Another wave of the virus could jeopardize this reopening, he said, noting that Ireland’s hotel industry is still completely closed. Politicians are calling for a very prudent reopening, given the growing number of hospitalizations and deaths in the country after Christmas.
Many Americans are prepared to travel, with a record number of pandemic-era passengers this month at U.S. airports.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
That’s what happens when you get there
For those planning to travel, what you do when you arrive at your destination is usually a bigger concern than what happens in transit, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. .
“The most careful way to travel is by car because you can create a protective cocoon, you can get in and out of the toilets, you can get food to drive, you can bring wipes when you clear the gas pump when you’re filling the tank.
“But again, it’s what you do wherever you go that increases your risk.”
Summer vacations in Florida gather on the beach outside, but then they go to bars and restaurants “and that’s when they have a drink or three and take off their masks, talk enthusiastically and are close to each other. people closed spaces for extended periods of time, ”Schaffner said.
Travelers who plan to engage in higher-risk activities should ideally wait until they are vaccinated, Wen said, “and even try to choose their activities because you don’t want to do everything that poses a high risk.”
And remember, vaccines are not “armor,” Schaffner says. It is still important to wear masks and maintain social distance as much as possible.
If you’re not vaccinated and have higher-risk behaviors while you’re out, you should be quarantined and then tested once you get home, Wen said.
The best advice for anyone who wants to travel soon?
First, “Please do everything you can to get vaccinated. Number 2, if you can’t get vaccinated, test before you go to make sure you’re negative. And number 3, where are you going and what do you intend to do? Be as careful as possible, ”says Schaffner.
He has a colleague who signs all phone calls with “Don’t stay out of bars!”
Good advice, he says.