How the omicron variant changes travel this holiday season

(CNN) – Vacation travel is set to pick up again soon, and it’s likely to be another very busy time for American travelers despite the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened nearly 21 million travelers at U.S. airports during the 10-day Thanksgiving holiday, and the agency expects air travel levels for the December holidays approach pre-pandemic levels.

In addition, there is another variable at play: the omicron variant.

The new variant, designated a “worrying variant” during the Thanksgiving travel period, adds an additional layer of uncertainty as people prepare for December and January travel.

According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, if you are vaccinated, there is no need to change your vacation plans, even with the omicron variant circulating in the United States.

“If you are vaccinated, your family is vaccinated, enjoy the parties at home with your family”, Fauci said on a CNN Global forum December 1st.

Traveling increases the risk of becoming infected, he said, but wearing a mask and getting vaccinated and getting the booster shot helps protect travelers traveling through crowded spaces.

Although a lot is still unknown about the omicron variant, health experts also underscore what we do know right now: Delta is a huge threat.

“Delta remains by far the most important factor we have in the US, and right now we are not in a terribly good situation,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Institutes, told “CNN Newsroom.” National Health Services (NIH).

New cases in the United States now exceed 100,000 a day, with more than 1,000 deaths a day, “the vast majority of which are unvaccinated people,” Collins said.

Now that the holiday travel season is back on track, here are more tips from the experts to make travel safer and more peaceful:

Protect your health

The extent to which the omicron variant might elude the protection of vaccines or previous infection is still being investigated, but current vaccines are expected to protect against serious illness, hospitalization, and death. according to the CDC.

Getting vaccinated is essential for two reasons, says Dr. William Schaffner, Professor of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The first is the delta variant.

“That’s the virus that is here, right now, in each and every community, spreading,” Schaffner said. “But number 2, and this has to do with omicron, our vaccines are likely to provide at least partial protection. And partial protection is always better than none.”

There is hope that the omicron variant be lighter, but it’s too early to tell. CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen agrees that the best defense is to protect yourself as much as possible through vaccination and boosters.

Whether to travel or not is a personal calculation, Wen said.

“There are a lot of unknowns, so I think it depends on people’s individual risk tolerance. There will be some people who don’t have a problem with unknowns and who are generally healthy, fully vaccinated and not so worried. But there are others. people who, due to their own medical situation or risk factors, could feel differently “.

CDC continues to recommend delay travel until they are fully vaccinated.

For those traveling with unvaccinated people, the agency suggests safer optionssuch as road trips with few stops and direct flights.

Logistical considerations for international travel

Travelers with international plans have more to consider. Ever-changing restrictions in countries around the world and the new american requirement Getting tested within one day of your flight back to the United States could pose some unexpected hurdles.

“This is a very dynamic situation, and travelers must take into account how important the trip is to them and have a plan B and a plan C,” said Wen, an emergency physician and professor of Health Policy and Management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

“They have to think of all the scenarios of what could happen. Let’s say they end up in a country that is going to apply a mandatory quarantine upon arrival. How will they deal with it? Is it worth going?”

The U.S. embassies provide country-specific information to U.S. citizens, including whether evidence at a particular destination is reliably available within the one day required for their return.

On December 8, the evidence in Egypt was listed as available within one day “at an additional cost.” In Chile, on December 8, it was a “no”: the evidence is not reliably available within that period.

Arrive safely. And what happens next

Wen and Schaffner stress that what travelers intend to do at their destinations is likely to pose a greater risk than the journey itself, provided that travelers wear masks in transit and keep their distance as much as possible.

People should wear a high-quality mask, N95, KN95 or KF94, whenever they are in close quarters and crowded with people of unknown vaccination status, Wen said.

“If you plan to see family members who are vaccinated and be outdoors or near other people who are known to be vaccinated, the risk is much lower than if you plan to be indoors with people whose vaccination status is unknown,” said.

A trip that includes a lot of shopping and going to the theater, eating at crowded restaurants and hitting your favorite New York bar is definitely riskier, Schaffner said.

“If you want to do all that, yes, you are taking more risk, but that really has nothing to do with the omicron variant. That has to do with delta at the moment,” he said shortly after the discovery of the variant was announced. omicron.

When everyone who can get vaccinated and receive boosters does so, it also helps protect children under 5 who cannot yet get vaccinated.

If there are immunosuppressed family members or unvaccinated children at a meeting, or both, Wen suggested that everyone be quarantined for at least three days before meeting and get a rapid test just before seeing each other.

“This would reduce the risk for everyone,” he said. CDC recently updated its guidance on self-diagnosis as risk reduction strategy.

Schaffner said her entire family got tested before getting together for Thanksgiving.

“And so, we are not only vaccinated and boosted, but we have tested negative. If you start to control yourself in this way, you can travel, meet and participate in social events with very low risk,” he said.

Paving the way, when it comes to travel

The TSA is encouraging travelers to enroll in TSA PreCheck, the expedited screening program that does not require members to remove their shoes, belts, fluids, laptops, or jackets.

Other tips from the TSA:

• Avoid rush hour at the airport, usually between 5 and 7 in the morning and 4 and 6 in the afternoon.
• Get there early: two hours before domestic flights or three hours for international flights.
• Do not wear anything that delays you. Here you have one list of what you can and cannot take. (Note: firearms they are forbidden at checkpoints and in hand luggage).
• Respect TSA agents, flight crews, and other front-line workers and properly pack firearms to avoid fines.

The AAA travel organization recommends travel insurance.

“Take out travel insurance and that of the airline if you can. That little box that is often skipped, select it this year because we do not know what the level of personnel of the airlines and the TSA is going to be,” said the spokesman for AAA Andrew Gross before the Thanksgiving travel hustle.

And make sure your vehicle is prepared. AAA suggests that you check key components like the battery, fuel system, tires, brakes, and fluid levels before a road trip.

Although the year 2021 is not going to offer the covid-free Christmas season that we wanted, it is possible to meet more safely with family and friends this year.

– CNN’s Jen Christensen, Naomi Thomas and Pete Muntean contributed to this report.