The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has extended its mandatory proof of Covid vaccinations for all non-U.S. citizens into at least January of 2023. Meanwhile, other leading Western nations like France, Germany, and the UK have already eliminated this type of travel requirement.
However, as of June, there are no travel requirements for U.S. citizens traveling domestically or returning to the U.S. from international destinations.
TSA’s reasoning for this extension is to “limit the risk of Covid-19, including variants of the virus.” However, it has widely been acknowledged at this stage that the Covid shots don’t prevent transmission of the virus, but rather help people to avoid getting seriously ill.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, even admitted earlier this year that the Covid-19 vaccines “can’t prevent transmission.” Last January, Welensky said, “Our vaccines are working exceptionally well. They continue to work well for Delta with regard to severe illness and death. They prevent it… what they can’t do anymore is prevent transmission.”
Nevertheless, the United States continues to hold fast to its vaccination policy.
The TSA documents that outline the extension of the policy say, “Together with the Presidential Proclamation and the CDC Order, these policies are intended to limit the risk that Covid-19 is introduced, transmitted, and spread into and throughout the United States, potentially overwhelming the United States healthcare and public health resources, endangering the health and safety of the American people, and threatening the security of our civil aviation system.”
Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center spoke to the Daily Mail about his confusion regarding TSA’s continuing Covid vaccine requirement.
“There are several reasons that it is a puzzle that travelers entering the U.S. must continue to demonstrate their Covid vaccination status,” Schaffner said. “First, Covid is abundant and is being widely transmitted in the U.S., so we are not protecting our population from an infection that is not here. Second, the vaccines are only modestly effective in preventing transmission. Indeed, vaccinated persons can be infected and transmit the virus to others.”
“Lastly,” continued Schaffner, “in dealing with any highly contagious respiratory virus, it has clearly been shown that travel restrictions of any kind are not very effective in keeping new viruses out of a country – and Covid is no longer new.”
