No Data, No Evidence, ‘You’ve Got To Make A Judgment Call’: Fauci On Restricting Travel For Those Fully Vaccinated

Speaking on CNN with host John Berman on Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, answered a question about why it is not safe for people who have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to travel by acknowledging, “When you don’t have the data and you don’t have the actual evidence, then you’ve got to make a judgment call.”

Berman asked, “You know from the Biden administration that they say it will make its decision based on the science. What’s the science behind not saying it’s safe for people who’ve been vaccinated, received two doses, to travel?”

“You know, that’s a very good question, John, and the CDC is carefully heading in that direction,” Fauci replied. “You know, when Dr. Walensky (Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) made the announcement a day or two ago about the fact that when you have a couple of people, two or three or more people in a family setting, both of whom are vaccinated, even if it’s someone, a friend that doesn’t have to be a member of the family, that was the first in a multi-step process that they are going to be rolling out.”

“They’re being careful, understandably; they want to get science; they want to get data, and then when you don’t have the data and you don’t have the actual evidence, then you’ve got to make a judgment call,” Fauci stated. “And I think that’s what you’re going to be seeing in the next weeks; you’re going to be seeing little by little more and more guidelines getting people to be more flexible. The first installation of this is what can vaccinated people do in a home setting. Obviously the next one is gonna be what you’re asking. What about travel? What about going out? What about getting a haircut? What about doing things like that? That’s all imminently going to be coming out.”

Fauci, asked “what’s the science” for denying vaccinated Americans a return to travel, can’t explain.

“When you don’t have the data and you don’t have the actual evidence, you’ve got to make a judgment call." pic.twitter.com/lftvNzgA6J

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 10, 2021

With Easter falling on Sunday, April 4, and Passover starting the evening of March 27, thousands of families around the country who normally get together for the holidays may well have an issue with restrictions on travel. TravelWeekly reported in late January:

Easter will see only a “limited pick-up” in flying and air traffic in June could remain 70% down on 2019, European air traffic management organisation Eurocontrol has warned. Eurocontrol issued its latest air traffic forecast warning: “The situation is quickly deteriorating.” Eamonn Brennan, Eurocontrol director-general, reported: “Demand for air travel is greatly suppressed and airlines are dramatically reducing their capacity.” He warned: “Even April is expected to perform very poorly, with only a limited pick-up for Easter.” “It is a complete disaster for an industry that is already on its knees.”

USA Today noted, “Easter may not seem like a peak travel time, but many families travel to be with their loved ones for this important holiday.”