Dr. Fauci Says Vaccine Requirement for Domestic Air Travel Should Be ‘Seriously’ Considered

As concerns remain in place over the Omicron variant's spread, Dr. Anthony Fauci shares his thoughts on how a vaccine mandate for domestic travel could help.

December 28, 2021

Requiring vaccines for domestic air travel is something that should be made the subject of serious consideration, per President Biden’s chief medical advisor.

During an MSNBC interview on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci—Biden’s medical advisor and the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—was asked about having previously signaled his support for implementing a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for those traveling domestically.

“There are pros and cons to that,” Fauci said when asked around the 7:56 mark to state whether he was going to recommend such a move to Biden. “I mean, you’ve got to ask yourself why it is you’re making that requirement. If you’re making a requirement for vaccination for people to get on planes who are coming into the country, that’s understandable. You don’t want to bring more cases into the country. But if you’re talking about requiring a vaccination to get on a plane domestically, that is just another one of the requirements that I think is reasonable to consider and I think that’s what you’re talking about when you heard me make a comment.”

Speaking further on the potential for a vaccine requirement for domestic flights, Fauci compared the policy to those found at educational institutions and elsewhere.

“You know, there’s requirements that you might want to get if you want to get into college or you want to go to a university or you want to work in certain places,” he pointed out. “When you make a vaccination a requirement, that’s another incentive to get more people vaccinated. If you want to do that with domestic flights, I think that’s something that seriously should be considered.”

See more from Fauci up top.

Still not vaccinated? Click here to change that. If you are vaccinated but still haven’t received your booster, appointments are available. The coming days, per the CDC and other health-focused agencies, are expected to include a continued surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant. Vaccines remain effective in providing protection against severe sickness or hospitalization in connection with the variant.