Leading airline and business groups are asking the Biden administration to develop temporary credentials that would let travelers show they have been tested and vaccinated for COVID-19, a step that the airline industry believes will help revive travel.
Various groups and nations are engaged in creating so-called vaccine passports aimed at allowing more travel. But airlines fear that a smattering of regional credentials will cause confusion and none will be widely accepted.
“It’s crucial to establish uniform guidance” and “the U.S. must be a leader in this development,” more than two dozen groups mentioned in a letter Monday to White House coronavirus-response coordinator Jeff Zients. The groups mentioned, however, that vaccination should not be a requirement for domestic or international travel.
The groups include the main U.S. and international airline trade organizations, airline labor unions, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The White House did not immediately comment.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations’ aviation arm are engaged on the type of info to include in a credential. The airline industry teams are particularly interested in having the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention take a leading role, believing that would improve certainty that info in the credentials is legitimate.
The CDC issued new guidelines Monday for fully vaccinated people, saying they can – without face masks – meet other vaccinated individuals and visit unvaccinated individuals in a single-family who’re at low risk for severe illness. But the well-being agency still recommends against travel.
“Every time that there is a surge in travel, we have a surge in cases in this nation,” mentioned CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
Walensky noted that coronavirus variants now spreading within the U.S. began in other nations. Still, she held out the possibility that with more data, the CDC might soon approve travel by vaccinated individuals.
Airlines have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic. Despite a partial recovery, U.S. airlines are still losing $150 million a day, according to the Airlines for America trade group.
In the U.S., the number of individuals going via airports remains down nearly 60% so far this yr compared with 2019. Most of these individuals are flying within the United States.
Airlines are counting on widespread vaccinations to boost travel and for vaccine passports to improve highly lucrative international flying.
