CDC Warns Americans Against International Travel: Should You Take The Risk?

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still warning Americans against traveling to nearly 140 destinations regardless of their vaccination status, some people are getting the itch to travel again. But is it safe?

Experts have weighed in from both sides, advising travelers on whether or not they think the time is right to visit their favorite destination.

In the U.S. and several countries worldwide, COVID cases have decreased, causing many leaders to roll back pandemic restrictions as the Omicron wave seemed to pass with less severity while vaccinations have risen.

A recent model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has even estimated that 73% of Americans now have immunity to the Omicron variant.

But the CDC has warned American travelers that no matter if they are fully vaccinated or not, there is still a “risk for getting and spreading COVID-19” when traveling to international locations, especially those it has placed in its Level 4 “high risk” category.

However, some experts, like Dale Fisher, group chief of medicine at Singapore’s National University Health System, say the risk is low if you are vaccinated and have recovered from the virus. He told CNBC, “you’re not more likely to get [COVID] because you travel."

“You’re at risk of getting COVID, wherever you go, for the rest of your life,” he said. “But really, for the vast majority of people, it’ll just be a very minor illness, if it’s symptomatic at all.”

Stefanos Kales, a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, also agrees that travel is safe if a person is vaccinated and boosted, has recovered from Omicron and is in good health.

“Unless you really have some serious condition or some serious concern, and you want to travel, absolutely you should travel,” he told CNBC. “You should feel quite comfortable because what else, you know, is going to protect you better?”

Dr. Patrice Harris, former president of the American Medical Association and CEO of the at-home medical testing company eMed, who is not against traveling, suggests that caution should be exercised such as vaccines, testing, masks, ventilation and social distancing.

“This virus is very wily, and at every turn of it has fooled us,” she told CNBC, adding that another variant of COVID-19 could emerge.

“We sometimes think: ‘Oh, I’ll get COVID, I’m young, I’m healthy, I’m boosted, so I’ll get over it quickly,’ ” she continued. “But ... not everyone will.”

The Mayo Clinic does say that “travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. If you're unvaccinated, staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.”

According to data from the CDC, 64.6% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 43.1% has been boosted.