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By Alison Sider 

People who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus can travel without putting themselves at serious risk as long as they wear masks and take other precautions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, moderating its blanket stance against travel.

The new guidance comes as studies have shown that Covid-19 vaccines have been effective in real-world conditions at reducing the risk of infections with or without symptoms.

Despite the CDC's determination that travel is a low-risk activity for people who have been vaccinated, officials still advise against it as Covid-19 cases rise in the U.S.

"It's our responsibility at the CDC to look at the evolving evidence of what is lower risk to do when you are fully vaccinated," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday. But with the majority of the population still not vaccinated and cases on the rise, "I would advocate against general travel overall," she said.

The CDC last month relaxed some of its safety guidelines for inoculated individuals, but continued to caution against unnecessary trips. Dr. Walensky has pleaded with people to avoid nonessential travel in recent weeks, citing surges in case numbers that have followed holiday periods when travel picked up.

The CDC's stance hasn't been enough to contain what airlines describe as pent-up demand for travel. Airports have been bustling over spring break, with passenger volumes reaching their highest levels in a year. Airlines say bookings have been climbing as the pace of vaccinations ratcheted up in recent weeks. Some airline executives have said that their domestic leisure business is pretty much back to normal.

People resuming travel will find that the experience is getting back to normal. Some of the steps airlines took early in the pandemic, like providing snack bags instead of food and beverage service and tweaking boarding procedures to foster social distancing, are being phased out.

Delta Air Lines Inc. was the last major carrier keeping middle seats open in coach cabins, but said this week it will start selling full flights again in May to match rising demand as more people have been vaccinated.

Major differences remain. Rules are still in place requiring passengers to wear masks on nearly all forms of public transportation, regardless of vaccination status. The FAA has said it will continue its "zero tolerance" policy of sanctioning unruly passengers, including those who refuse to wear masks.

Many international destinations remain closed, and tourist travel between the U.S. and Europe is still severely limited. The Biden administration isn't yet lifting restrictions that bar most non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in most of Europe, China, Brazil and South Africa.

Dr. Walensky said Friday that fully vaccinated people don't need to get a Covid-19 test before or after domestic travel -- and don't need to self-quarantine following travel. Travelers who have been fully vaccinated also don't need to get tested prior to flying abroad unless that is required by the destination, and they don't need to self-quarantine when they return to the U.S.

But the U.S. still requires people to test negative for Covid-19 or show proof of recovery from a recent infection before boarding any international flight to the country. That requirement, put in place earlier this year, applies to everyone flying to the U.S. from any other country, including those who have been vaccinated. The CDC also still recommends people get another test three to five days after returning from abroad.

The CDC is sticking to recommendations that people who haven't been fully vaccinated refrain from traveling altogether. If they must travel, the CDC continues to advise that unvaccinated people get tested before and after traveling and stay home and self-quarantine for a period afterward. However, Covid-19 testing isn't required before domestic flights.

Airlines had advocated for the CDC to update its guidance to state that vaccinated people can travel safely, and groups representing the U.S. travel industry and airports cheered the change. "The CDC's new travel guidance is a major step in the right direction," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

In a study published earlier this week, the CDC found that Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna Inc. and from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech were 90% effective in reducing the risk of infection two weeks after a second dose. The data indicated that the vaccines are effective at reducing the risk of infections with or without symptoms -- further evidence that vaccines can slow the spread of the virus.

The CDC has said previously that fully vaccinated people can gather indoors with others who are also fully vaccinated without taking extra precautions. In addition, vaccinated people may gather with one other unvaccinated family without masks and distancing as long as the unvaccinated members are healthy and aren't at risk for developing a more serious case of Covid-19.

But the CDC has urged fully vaccinated people to continue taking precautions in public, in addition to medium or large private gatherings.

"With so many people still unvaccinated, it is important that everyone -- regardless of vaccination status -- continues to take preventive measures in public and adhere to our guidance on mitigation," Dr. Walensky said.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 02, 2021 14:49 ET (18:49 GMT)

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