Airline industry pushes US to standardize health papers

Major airline and business groups are asking the Biden administration to develop temporary credentials that would allow travelers to show they have been tested and vaccinated against COVID-19, a step which the transportation industry says air, will help boost travel.

Various groups and countries are working on the development of so-called vaccine passports to allow more travel. But airlines fear that a handful of regional references will cause confusion and none will be widely accepted.

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“It is crucial to establish uniform directions” and “the United States must be a leader in this development,” more than two dozen groups said Monday in a letter to Monday’s coronavirus response coordinator. the White House, Jeff Zients. However, the groups said vaccination should not be a requirement for domestic or international travel.

The World Health Organization and the aviation branch of the United Nations are working on the type of information to include in an accreditation. Aviation industry groups are particularly interested in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention playing a leading role, believing it would increase certainty that the information in credentials is legitimate.

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The CDC released new guidelines for fully vaccinated people on Monday, saying they can – without a face mask – meet other vaccinated people and visit unvaccinated people in a single household who are at low risk of serious illness. However, the health agency still recommends against traveling.

“Every time there is an increase in travel, we have an increase in cases in this country,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

Walensky noted that many variants of COVID-19 that are now spreading in the United States have started in other countries. Still, she hinted that, with more data, the CDC may soon approve travel for those vaccinated.

Airlines have been particularly affected by the pandemic. Despite a partial recovery, U.S. airlines are still losing $ 150 million a day, according to trade group Airlines for America.

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In the United States, the number of people passing through airports remains down nearly 60% so far this year compared to 2019, the last normal year before the pandemic. Most of these people fly to the United States.

Airlines rely on widespread vaccinations to boost travel and vaccine passports to boost high-profit international flights.