Your Questions About the COVID-19 Vaccine and Travel, Answered
Experts on what the industry could look like after shots become widely available.
By now, we know that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can and will continue to move around the globe. Even as the COVID-19 vaccine begins to roll out, experts caution that preventative measures will remain necessary. "If we don't recognize that this virus moves and we don't take precautions, we will continue to chase behind the virus instead of being in front of it," says Ruth Carrico, Ph.D., an infectious diseases professor and nurse practitioner at the University of Louisville's School of Medicine.
While the pandemic likely won't end until the majority of the world's population is vaccinated, many of us are looking ahead to a return to travel. But what will that look like after the vaccine widely available? Here's a peek.
When will post-vaccine travel start up again?
In short, it's hard to say for sure. "Right now, the expectation is that the general public will be able to begin to be vaccinated as early as this coming summer," says Carrico.
That could come with an increased opportunity for travel. "Most of the experts who watch the travel markets anticipate that business travel may commence as early as the summer, and leisure travel in the fall," says Karl Minges, Ph.D., M.P.H., chair of health administration and policy at the University of New Haven.
Things could be a bit more stalled than originally anticipated, however, as vaccine roll-out has been slower than expected. While there were initial hopes to have at least 20 million Americans vaccinated by the end of December, thus far, less than 5 million have gotten the shot.
