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White House debates vaccine requirement for air travel

Bostonian 5y ago
It's not right if it's a way to harass the unvaccinated as opposed to reducing a substantial risk of transmission on a flight. Quoting Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evaluating-covid-risk-on-planes-trains-and-automobiles2/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evaluating-covid-... 'At a casual glance, air travel might seem like the perfect recipe for COVID transmission: it packs dozens of people into a confined space, often for hours at a time. But many planes have excellent high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters that capture more than 99 percent of particles in the air, including microbes as SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID. When their recirculation systems are operating, most commercial passenger jets bring in outside air in a top-to-bottom direction about 20 to 30 times per hours. This results in a 50–50 mix of outside and recirculated air and reduces the potential for airborne spread of a respiratory virus. Many airlines now require passengers to wear a mask during flights except for mealtimes, and some are blocking off middle seats to allow more distancing between people. Companies have also implemented rigorous cleaning procedures between flights. So how does this translate into overall risk? “An airplane cabin is probably one of the most secure conditions you can be in,” says Sebastian Hoehl of the Institute for Medical Virology at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, who has co-authored two papers on COVID-19 transmission on specific flights, which were published in JAMA Network Open and the New England Journal of Medicine, respectfully'
raxxorrax 5y ago
They will do it. This is a political automatism, don't think anyone making decisions has any degree of freedom. Look at the ridiculous rules they implemented for terrorism.
beebmam 5y ago
Frankly, I don't plan on flying unless I am guaranteed everyone will be vaxxed and masked. I have respiratory issues and I am doing what I can to avoid infection, and we know that both masking and vaccinations decrease infectivity
- AndrewBissell 5y ago
  We don't "know" either of those things with any degree of certainty whatsoever. The Bangladesh mask study that proponents like to point to showed a mere 10% reduction in spread, and the 95% CI included "no effect" and "makes it worse." As far as vaccination goes the picture is also unclear (its effect on transmission was never studied in the trials, which are the only true RCT we ever had), but the CDC itself has said in one study that "the vaccinated may transmit the Delta variant as easily as the unvaccinated." How long are you planning to maintain your vax+mask expectation? What is the offramp back to normal life for you?

It's not right if it's a way to harass the unvaccinated as opposed to reducing a substantial risk of transmission on a flight. Quoting Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evaluating-covid-risk-on-planes-trains-and-automobiles2/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evaluating-covid-... 'At a casual glance, air travel might seem like the perfect recipe for COVID transmission: it packs dozens of people into a confined space, often for hours at a time. But many planes have excellent high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters that capture more than 99 percent of particles in the air, including microbes as SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID. When their recirculation systems are operating, most commercial passenger jets bring in outside air in a top-to-bottom direction about 20 to 30 times per hours. This results in a 50–50 mix of outside and recirculated air and reduces the potential for airborne spread of a respiratory virus. Many airlines now require passengers to wear a mask during flights except for mealtimes, and some are blocking off middle seats to allow more distancing between people. Companies have also implemented rigorous cleaning procedures between flights. So how does this translate into overall risk? “An airplane cabin is probably one of the most secure conditions you can be in,” says Sebastian Hoehl of the Institute for Medical Virology at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, who has co-authored two papers on COVID-19 transmission on specific flights, which were published in JAMA Network Open and the New England Journal of Medicine, respectfully'

raxxorrax 5y ago

They will do it. This is a political automatism, don't think anyone making decisions has any degree of freedom. Look at the ridiculous rules they implemented for terrorism.

beebmam 5y ago

Frankly, I don't plan on flying unless I am guaranteed everyone will be vaxxed and masked. I have respiratory issues and I am doing what I can to avoid infection, and we know that both masking and vaccinations decrease infectivity

AndrewBissell 5y ago
We don't "know" either of those things with any degree of certainty whatsoever. The Bangladesh mask study that proponents like to point to showed a mere 10% reduction in spread, and the 95% CI included "no effect" and "makes it worse." As far as vaccination goes the picture is also unclear (its effect on transmission was never studied in the trials, which are the only true RCT we ever had), but the CDC itself has said in one study that "the vaccinated may transmit the Delta variant as easily as the unvaccinated." How long are you planning to maintain your vax+mask expectation? What is the offramp back to normal life for you?