On Friday, April 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its travel guidance for fully vaccinated people to reflect the latest evidence and science. Given recent studies evaluating the real-world effects of vaccination, CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves. A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last recommended dose of vaccine.

Travel within the United States:

• Fully vaccinated people can travel within the United States and do not need COVID-19 testing or post-travel self-quarantine
• Fully vaccinated people must continue to take COVID-19 precautions while traveling – wear a mask, avoid crowds, socially distance, and wash hands frequently.

International Travel Guidelines:

• Fully vaccinated people can travel internationally without getting a COVID-19 test before travel unless it is required by the international destination.
• Fully vaccinated people do not need to self-quarantine after returning to the United States, unless required by a state or local jurisdiction.
• Fully vaccinated people must still have a negative COVID-19 test result before they board a flight to the United States and get a COVID-19 test 3 to 5 days after returning from international travel.
• Fully vaccinated people should continue to take COVID-19 precautions while traveling internationally.

Updates to CDC travel guidance for vaccinated people:

• International Travel Guidance
• Domestic Travel Guidance

Guidance for people who are not fully vaccinated or unvaccinated:

• Unvaccinated travelers should still get tested 1-3 days before domestic travel and again 3-5 days after travel.
• They should stay home and self-quarantine for 7 days after travel or 10 days if they don’t get tested at the conclusion of travel. 
• CDC discourages non-essential domestic travel by those who are not fully vaccinated.

Due to the large number of Americans who remain unvaccinated and the current state of the pandemic, CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people continue to take COVID-19 precautions, such as wearing a mask, social distancing, washing hands frequently and avoiding crowds when in public, when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple other households, and when around unvaccinated people who are at high risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19.

This post is an excerpt from the CDC’s press release on Friday, April 2, 2021. for more information, read the full press release on CDC’s Updated Guidance on Travel for Fully Vaccinated People.