While crafting the new vaccine and testing requirements the White House imposed on businesses last week, top aides urged the Biden administration to consider requiring air travelers to be vaccinated before boarding an airplane, The Washington Post reported.
Initially focused on levying the vaccination requirement on international air travelers, the Post’s sources said a more extensive mandate on domestic air passengers was “still under consideration.”
Some of President Biden’s advisors argued for the mandate, citing other countries with the requirement, the Post said.
“We’re discussing it,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical advisor, and NIAID director, told the Post about the possibility of a travel restriction. “It’s on the table for discussion.”
“I would support that if you want to get on a plane and travel with other people, that you should be vaccinated,” Fauci said in an interview for The Skimm.
On Pod Save America’s “Sick of vaxxing nicely.” episode released Monday, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said an air travel vaccination requirement “is something we continue to look at.” However, he believes it would be cumbersome to implement. In addition, an advisor told the Post it could lead to much longer lines at airports.
The newspaper said its sources “stressed that no additional mandates are imminent,” highlighting their current task of implementing the requirements unveiled last week. The administration has not yet written the vaccine requirement covering companies with 100 or more employees.
Biden’s advisors’ bottom line: more measures could be coming to coerce the more than 70 million Americans who remain unvaccinated to do so, the Post revealed.
The idea of an air travel mandate reportedly surfaced weeks ago when the White House considered extending the federal mask-wearing requirement on public transportation. However, airlines have resisted the idea of a domestic mandate, according to the paper, saying they’re still recovering from the blow of the pandemic. Airlines point to studies that show air travel is relatively safe.
It is unclear whether an international mandate would cover American citizens who travel abroad, foreigners visiting the country, or both. It’s also unclear what documentation would meet a vaccine mandate’s requirements.
“The easiest and best thing to do at this point is probably a travel mandate,” University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel told the newspaper.
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