The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a simple message for Labor Day weekend — if you’re unvaccinated, stay home.
Should you travel over Labor Day weekend?
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, said Thursday at a White House press briefing that unvaccinated people should be cautious about making any trips this weekend.
- “First and foremost, if you are unvaccinated, we would recommend not traveling,” she said.
Walensky and other U.S. officials said this weekend is a great weekend to get your vaccine. White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said that “it’s critical that being vaccinated is part of their pre-holiday checklist.”
- “Getting vaccinated is free. It’s easy and convenient. It’s safe and effective. And it’s never, ever been more important,” he said, per Newsweek.
Do people travel over Labor Day weekend?
Health officials have cautioned Americans about traveling during holiday weekends, fearing the spread of the coronavirus will only increase as people move about airports, bus stations and gas stations along highway roads. These concerns will only increase now because of the spread of the delta variant, which is highly transmissible.
The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 3 million people during the 2020 Labor Day weekend. That was before the COVID-19 vaccine was widely available, too.
What happened in 2020 over Labor Day weekend?
Dr. William Schaffner, Vanderbilt University infectious disease specialist, told CNBC at the time that the weekend was an “accelerator weekend” that would set the stage for the fall.
- “This is another holiday and we will see what the general population does, how careful they are or how care free they are. I have a fair amount of trepidation, frankly, because it looks as though a very substantial portion of our population wants to be out and about very freely in groups, without masks, not paying attention to social distancing.”
It’s unclear what Labor Day weekend will mean for the 2021 fall season.