Require vaccination for U.S. air travel

The United States is closing in on a heartbreaking COVID-19 milestone. Nearly 800,000 American lives have been lost in the pandemic.

With the delta variant still wreaking havoc here and the sobering unknowns of the highly infectious omicron variant, forward-thinking action is vital to prevent more hospitalizations and death. A logical, lifesaving step: requiring COVID vaccination for domestic air travel in the United States.

Doing so wouldn't just make the airline cabin safer for passengers. It also would help protect the people and destinations that travelers are visiting.

In addition, it would spur the unvaccinated to finally take this conscientious step. In a 2021 Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 40% of respondents reluctant to get the shots said they would be more likely to do so if airlines required vaccination or doing so would further ease travel. Currently, just 61% of Americans of all ages are considered fully vaccinated, according to the New York Times COVID tracker.

A measure that provides a powerful incentive for vaccine holdouts to act is clearly necessary. A domestic air travel vaccination requirement for all eligible to get the shots neatly fits the bill. With holiday travel approaching, it would likely move the needle quickly on U.S. immunization levels. That would be beneficial with omicron's troubling approach.

Canada already has put this sensible requirement in place, suggesting that it can be done with minimal disruption for airports and airlines. As of Oct. 30, vaccination became mandatory to board most flights and trains north of the border.

It applies to those ages 12 years and four months and up. Another important note: To comply with the mandate, Canadian travelers need to be fully vaccinated. Pfizer or Moderna recipients need to get second doses at least two weeks before traveling.

Canada sensibly put in a monthlong transition period to ease the adjustment to the new requirement. Travelers who didn't qualify as fully vaccinated were "able to travel if they can show a valid COVID-19 molecular test taken within 72 hours of travel."

A similar transition period would be needed in the U.S., especially if a mandate would be put in place before the holidays. But hopefully, U.S. travelers would be motivated to get started on the Pfizer or Moderna series in order to board a plane or get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is still a single immunization.

In a recent interview with an editorial writer, Minnesota infectious disease expert Mike Osterholm said he supports a vaccine mandate for domestic air travel.

But a query to the White House yielded a frustrating response. Asked why the Biden administration hadn't followed Canada's lead, a spokesman simply pointed to a Dec. 2 statement by White House press secretary Jen Psaki. She said at that time that "nothing is off the table," including domestic air travel vaccine requirements.

OK. But with omicron's swift global spread, why is the administration waiting to implement this necessary safeguard?

The current U.S. policy requires those traveling here from another country to be fully vaccinated if they are a "non-U.S. citizen who is a nonimmigrant (not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or traveling to the United States on an immigrant visa)."

In addition, "all air passengers ages 2 or older, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status, must show a negative result of a COVID-19 viral test or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before they board a flight to the United States."

Requiring vaccination for all air travelers into and within the United States would help get delta under better control and put a brake on serious omicron infections. The time to act is now.