The general surgeon of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, defended on Sunday the Biden administration that did not require evidence of COVID-19 vaccination to travel in airplanes, saying that unvaccinated people should be able to fly in emergency situations.
Murthy said it was “reasonable” to consider implementing vaccine rules for travel, but it was also necessary to take into account “concerns about equity.”
“We know that when ordering travel vaccines there are important equity issues that should be addressed, to ensure that people, for example, if they have to travel in an emergency to seeing a sick relative would be able to do it, even if you know they weren’t vaccinated, ”Murthy told Dana Bash, an anchor on CNN, in“ State of the Union ”.
Murthy, however, insisted that President Biden’s new vaccine rules, which will require companies with 100 or more workers to impose vaccines or weekly tests, are necessary steps to combat the pandemic.
“I think [it’s] an appropriate response because we recognize that if we want our economy to return, if we want our schools to stay in session, we must take steps to ensure that workplaces and learning environments are safe and that these requirements help them do that. “Murthy told ABC anchor” This Week, “George Stephanopoulos.
Under Biden’s mandate, all federal employees will also be required to be vaccinated, with few exceptions.
“The COVID virus is a dangerous virus,” Murthy said. “It makes our jobs and our schools much less secure than they should be. Therefore, we believe that this is an appropriate action and, without a doubt, from a public health perspective (most importantly) it will help keep workers safe ”.