The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday national and international travel is safe for vaccinated people, as long as they wear masks and test negative for COVID prior to entering the U.S.
But Dr. Ellen Eaton, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, urged Alabamians to stay closer to home until more people have received vaccine doses. According to the CDC, About 17 percent of Americans have been fully vaccinated and 30 percent have received at least one dose. In Alabama, about 13 percent have been fully vaccinated.
“I personally am not traveling yet, and I would encourage folks to stay closer to home until we get more Americans vaccinated,” Eaton said.
New variants that transmit more easily have been detected in Alabama and several nearby states.
“Only a minority of Americans and Alabamians are fully vaccinated,” Eaton said. “In addition, we’re seeing more transmissible coronavirus variants that are widespread across the U.S. And we know that there are many variants in popular tourist destinations like Florida. These changes, plus Spring Break travel, may out unvaccinated individuals at risk for these more transmissible variants.”
Masks will still be required on planes and in airports, but Alabama’s mask mandate will expire next week. Eaton said research shows that masks reduce transmission of COVID and other respiratory viruses.
“What this is an opportunity for us to do on April 9 is to exercise our personal responsibility to follow these experts,” Eaton said. “Follow the public health guidance that’s been laid out by the CDC and continue to keep our area safe by continuing masking when indoors and when in public settings. And I’m hopeful that if we continue to mask as a community, we can prevent some of these cases and surges that we’re seeing in other parts of America.”
With Easter around the corner, Eaton recommended avoiding crowded indoor gatherings. She suggested outdoor and smaller gatherings as an alternative this year.
“Be very thoughtful,” Eaton said. “Plan ahead. If you know that your event is not going to allow you to be distanced and everyone is not going to be wearing a mask, it’s probably not the time to participate in that event.”
Some groups that have been fully vaccinated can gather indoors without masks, Eaton said. In addition, vaccinated grandparents and parents can get together with unvaccinated, low-risk children from a single household. She discouraged large groups of children from multiple families from congregating with vaccinated relatives.
Recent studies have shown vaccinations are effective in preventing COVID infection and reducing transmission. Eaton said studies have found very small numbers of breakthrough COVID infections among vaccinated people.
“We are encouraged that these infections are rare and mild for the most part,” Eaton said.
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