After two Democratic legislators pressed for vaccine passport measures, Dr. Anthony Fauci supports vaccination requirements for travelers.
Fauci supports the measure to require travelers vaccine passports.
Democratic Lawmakers Push for Vaccine Mandates
In a recently published article in Newsweek, vaccine requirements for all domestic passengers boarding airplanes have been pushed by two Democratic legislators. Representative Don Beyer presented a bill on Friday that would compel domestic air and rail travelers to provide evidence of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of boarding flights and trains, citing the need to protect passenger safety.
Virginia Democrat lawmaker said that having passengers and workers at airports and Amtrak stations provide evidence of COVID vaccination or a negative test is simply basic sense. As businesses like United have already shown sensible policy changes, these are simple measures that anybody may do to make travel safer.
New York Representative Ritchie Torres characterized issuing a vaccination mandate for domestic and international aviation travel as a "commonsense move" in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security in August, according to a published article in MSN News.
Fauci Supports the Measure Proposed by Lawmakers
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he supports mandatory vaccines for air travel after two Democratic lawmakers pushed for it in the wake of an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths across the country, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates.
Fauci said, "I would support that if you want to get on a plane and travel with other people that you should be vaccinated," according to a published article in The Washington Post. It can be remembered that Fauci has been pushing for a vaccine passport since the roll-out of inoculation began.
Although the head of the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases did not anticipate a national vaccination requirement at that time, he did say in January that he could see it being needed when traveling or attending school. This is to guarantee that the virus's spread is kept to a minimum.
Will Biden Administration Support the Measure?
"I believe we have a very good track record that demonstrates we're pulling various levers to obtain vaccines and we're not taking any measures off the table," COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said when asked whether the Biden administration supported mandating vaccinations for aviation travel.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden issued broad new vaccination mandates on Thursday, which may impact 100 million American employees and represent the federal government's most aggressive vaccine campaign during the global pandemic.
According to Biden's proposal, all companies with 100 or more workers must either mandate vaccinations for all employees or establish routine weekly COVID-19 testing. Failure to comply may result in fines of thousands of dollars for each employee who breaks the regulation.
Needless to say, in an August Harris Poll COVID-19 monitoring poll, 64 percent of Americans supported the adoption of vaccination passports for air travel. In a recent survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 57 percent of respondents agreed that a vaccination mandate for flying should be implemented.
Related Article: Biden Requires All Private and Federal Employees To Get Vaccinated
