As of Friday, April 2, fully vaccinated adults 听from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to travel without the need for COVID-19 tests and quarantining. But what about their unvaccinated kids?
Experts say that depends.听
Current projections suggest that all American adults who want the vaccination will have it made available to them by early summer. As a result, Jennifer听Nuzzo, senior scholar at the , expects that virus case rates will drop by fall. At that point, she says that traveling with unvaccinated kids on planes will generally be a low-risk activity. Before then, the risk will vary based on each family鈥檚 individual circumstances.听
In fact, it鈥檚 not the plane travel itself that poses the greatest risk to unvaccinated travelers. Nuzzo says that airplane filters actually do a good job of听. It鈥檚 during mealtimes in the air when travelers鈥攅specially those who remove their masks鈥攁re most at risk. Of greater risk? The interactions that happen before your plane is airborne, including gathering with strangers in airports or stopping to dine in听restaurants, she says.
Mask-wearing, keeping your distance, and washing your hands will likely be recommended for the considerable future, says Nuzzo:听鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about continuing to layer interventions to make it as low-risk as possible.鈥澨鼴ut, experts warn that even when we are taking all the right precautions, low risk and no risk are two different things. Deciding if your family should travel will remain a highly individual decision dependent on your children鈥檚听underlying conditions, Nuzzo adds.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 not zero risk,鈥 says Amber D鈥橲ouza, an epidemiology professor at the . 鈥淭here absolutely are children getting sick. And we鈥檙e concerned about some of the long term health consequences as well.鈥
Data from the past year has that children and teenagers can get COVID-19. The difference is that most healthy听kids without underlying conditions who are infected have milder, or no, symptoms.听According to the , children about 13.4 percent of patients and 0.19 percent of all COVID-19 deaths. And studies show that the risk to kids age 5 to 17 is听听than those older. Babies under the age of one even less so.
Recent comments made by C.D.C. director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, in which she that vaccinated people can鈥檛 transmit the virus, received some .听On April 2, the agency听 its position to say that while fully vaccinated people are 鈥渓ess likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit鈥 COVID-19, further investigation is required.听
In terms of when we can expect less risk traveling with children, those听who are 16 and older are expected to be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine shortly, and the about the success of its clinical trials on children between 12 to 15 suggests that that age group might become qualified by the start of the school year in fall. Pfizer鈥檚 testing of听 and will start on ages 2 to 5 shortly. Moderna is expected to release its results from a study on 12- to 17-year-olds sometime this summer, and that testing has started for children aged 6 months to 11 years.听If results of vaccine testing a high-level of virus antibodies, the final approval stages could be swift. 鈥淒elaying听vacations until a little bit later in the summer might also allow some of those adolescents to be vaccinated,鈥 says D鈥橲ouza.
When it comes to taking your kids abroad prior to being vaccinated, Nuzzo warns that that adds another layer of unpredictability. 鈥淚nternationally, it鈥檚 a lot harder to calculate, because you don鈥檛 know what other countries鈥 epidemics or travel restrictions are going to be like.鈥 Currently, everyone over the age of two who听hasn鈥檛 been vaccinated still has to be tested within three days prior to flights back to the U.S. 鈥淲hat if one of your kids becomes infected while on vacation and tests positive? Be prepared for this and check if your resort will offer free or discounted stays if you have to remain quarantined there for additional days,鈥 says Nadeen White, and pediatrician in Atlanta.
鈥淎fter a year of this, we鈥檙e all really excited to travel again,鈥 says D鈥橲ouza. 鈥淏ut we want to do it in a way that minimizes risk. It shouldn鈥檛 be a vacation like your pre-pandemic vacations.鈥 Experts suggest taking direct flights if you鈥檙e going to fly, continuing听to wear masks in public,听and opting for听domestic听trips that offer outdoor activities like hiking, biking, and camping, which remain among the safest activities when it comes to limiting COVID-19 transmission.听