President Joe Biden reportedly said that he will make a decision regarding COVID-19 vaccination requirements for domestic travel when he receives “a recommendation from the medical team.”
The president made the comment in response to a question, according to Sabrina Siddiqui of the Wall Street Journal.
“Asked when he would make a decision on vaccine requirements for domestic travel, President Biden tells reporters he would do so ‘when I get a recommendation from the medical team,'” Siddiqui tweeted.
Asked when he would make a decision on vaccine requirements for domestic travel, President Biden tells reporters he would do so “when I get a recommendation from the medical team.”— Sabrina Siddiqui (@Sabrina Siddiqui) 1640731575
COVID-19 vaccination mandates imposed by the public and private sectors during the pandemic have proven to be very controversial, so if the president were to advance a vaccination requirement for domestic travelers, it would likely be very unpopular with a large portion of the public.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who also serves as chief medical advisor to President Biden, has told CNN’s Jim Acosta that he does not expect a vaccine requirement for domestic air travel to be implemented anytime soon.
“I doubt if we’re gonna see something like that in the reasonably foreseeable future,” Fauci said.
Earlier this month, when responding to someone who mentioned the idea of requiring COVID-19 vaccination or a test for domestic air travel, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that “nothing is off the table … including domestic travel.”
“The reason is that with the sheer volume of new cases that we are having and that we expect to continue with Omicron, one of the things we want to be careful of is that we don’t have so many people out,” Dr. Anthony Fauci explains why CDC changed Covid isolation guidelines.pic.twitter.com/g48XwcDdJh— The Situation Room (@The Situation Room) 1640648827