Leading airlines and business groups are asking the Biden administration to develop temporary credentials that allow travelers to demonstrate that they have been tested and vaccinated against COVID-19, a step that the airline industry says is reviving travel.
Various groups and countries are working on the development of so-called vaccine passports to make more travel possible. But airlines fear that a few regional references will cause confusion, and none will be widely accepted.
“It is crucial to set unified guidelines” and “the US must be a leader in this development,” more than 20 groups said Monday in a letter to Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus response. However, the groups said vaccination should not be a requirement for domestic or international travel.
The groups include the major US and international airline trade associations, airline unions, and the US Chamber of Commerce. The White House did not immediately comment.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations Aviation Branch are working on the kind of information that should be included in ID. Aviation industry groups are particularly interested in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention playing a leading role, believing that this would enhance assurance that the information in the credentials is legitimate.
The CDC issued new guidelines for fully vaccinated people on Monday, stating that – without a face mask – they can meet other vaccinated people and visit unvaccinated people in a single household who are at low risk of serious illness. However, the health agency still discourages travel.
“Every time there is an increase in the number of trips, we have an increase in the number of cases in this country,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
Walensky noted that many variants of COVID-19 that were now spreading in the US started in other countries. Still, she raised the possibility that with more data, CDC could soon agree to travel by vaccinated people.
Airlines have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Despite a partial recovery, US carriers are still losing $ 150 million a day, according to the Airlines for America trade group.
In the US, the number of people traveling through airports so far this year continues to drop by nearly 60% compared to 2019, the last normal, pre-pandemic year. Most of those people fly within the United States.
Airlines rely on widespread vaccinations to boost travel and vaccine passports to boost highly lucrative international flying.