After more than a year of pandemic, many families who have been stranded at home are eager to go on vacation. But don’t pack yet, experts say.
While more adults are being vaccinated against the coronavirus every day, children, especially younger ones, should not receive the vaccine for months.
In the meantime, after all the adults in your family have been vaccinated, does that mean that it is now safe to make that trip so late?
The official answer: no travel. The answer of the experts: some trips can be safe.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still do not recommend non-essential travel, even for those who have been fully vaccinated. But as Covid-19 rates drop, that orientation may change.
NBC News talked to seven pediatric health experts about the risks of going on vacation with the family before the children are vaccinated. The consensus among them was that in summer or fall, safe family getaways could be possible, as long as Covid-19 cases were low.
“One of the biggest determinants of how safe things are is the amount of viruses that are circulating,” said Dr. Andrew Pavia, head of the pediatric infectious disease division at the University of Utah Health. “Once the level of transmission drops dramatically in your community and in the place where you are traveling, everything becomes safer.”
Children are not so sick. Does this mean that they cannot spread the virus?
The overall risk of coronavirus for healthy children has been mercifully low. In general, children are more likely to have mild cases of Covid-19 than adults. Young children also appear to be less likely to spread the virus than adults.
But they are still capable of transmitting Covid-19 to other people, and although rare, serious and fatal cases have occurred in children.
“Children are not without risks,” said Dr. Kelly Fradin, a New York City pediatrician and author of “Parenting in a Pandemic: How to Help Your Family Through Covid-19”. “We want to realistically balance that they are low risk, but absolutely no risk.”
This does not mean that all travel should be banned, said Dr. Sean O’Leary, vice president of the Infectious Diseases Committee at the American Academy of Pediatrics and professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
“It is really a personal decision and depends on many different factors.”
“It is really a personal decision and depends on many different factors. Does the child have underlying health problems that can put him or her at greater risk? ”He said, referring to conditions like diabetes, obesity, cystic fibrosis and asthma.
It is important to take into account other people’s health as well, he added. “Does the parent have a high-risk condition? Will they be returning to a home where there is a frail elderly person? “
What is the safest way to reach our destination?
Your means of transportation and how much exposure it can bring is something to consider, said Dr. Ibukun Akinboyo, an assistant professor in the pediatric infectious disease division at Duke University Hospital. Driving your own car is the best option, she said, and advised travelers to research whether there are ways to avoid crowds once they reach their destination.
She said she advises her patients’ families to ask themselves, “Can you keep a bubble during this trip?”
Can we go to the beach or to a water park? How about a cruise?
The safest type of vacation is one that takes place mostly outdoors and where it is reasonable to expect everyone to practice social detachment and wear masks, said Dr. Buddy Creech, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program.
“If I had a patient saying, ‘Let’s go to the beach’, I wouldn’t be frustrated with that, as long as I took the necessary precautions when I was out of his family unit,” he said, adding that masks should still be worn in public by everyone in the family aged 2 or over, even if the state you are traveling to does not require masks.
Creech said he would be a little more hesitant if families wanted to travel to other outdoor attractions, like water parks. The water itself does not seem to pose an inherent risk of transmitting the virus, but standing in long lines for walks can.
Cruises, on the other hand, are a definite no.
“Any outdoor and spaced out activity has less risk than indoor activities, grouped and shared with equipment.”
“Any outdoor and spaced out activity has less risk than indoor activities, grouped and shared with equipment, and I think that would apply directly to something like a cruise,” said Akinboyo.
As soon as most of us are vaccinated, will the virus have disappeared?
Experts recommend that everyone, whether vaccinated or not, continue to wear masks in public. Although vaccines have been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization and death after catching Covid-19, vaccinated individuals may still have less severe cases.
And while there is encouraging evidence that vaccines can protect against infection and transmission, data is still being collected on whether vaccinees are able to spread the virus to unvaccinated ones.
“Just because you’re protected doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t become a carrier,” said Dr. Frank Esper, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, whose research focuses on newly recognized viral respiratory infections and infectious diseases. .
Children can visit grandparents now, right?
Despite the unanswered questions, the first indicators of vaccine effectiveness are so promising that, in this month’s guidance, the CDC specifically allowed unmasked indoor meetings between fully vaccinated grandparents, unvaccinated grandchildren and their unvaccinated parents, as long as no one who didn’t being vaccinated runs the risk of Covid-19 complications.
How to get these visits as safely as possible can depend on the distance your grandparents live. If they are on a plane trip, it gets more complex.
“Depending on the duration of the flight, if your children are sitting next to other people, if the masks are applied, as you arrive and leave the airport, children may be at greater risk” of catching the coronavirus, just like anyone else that has not yet been vaccinated, said Pavia.
How do we minimize exposure when flying?
Although airplanes have air filtration systems to protect passengers during flights, crowded airports can pose a risk, experts said.
As for the flight itself, the direct is the best when possible; shorter flights are ideal; and when traveling with children, try to minimize the number of times they will need to remove their mask during the flight, which may mean not traveling during meals or snacks, said O’Leary. He also suggested using a double mask or face protection over the masks on flights.
Which is safer: Hotels or Airbnbs?
While hotels are managing to reduce congestion in common areas, such as lobbies, experts do not believe that staying in a hotel instead of staying in a vacation rental home.
Should we be concerned with variants?
There is still a lot that is not known.
“We still have to determine how long protection will be offered by these vaccines, especially in the variant scenario,” said Fradin, adding that vaccines are believed to offer protection for at least 8 to 9 months, but immunity could then, spent.
Widespread travel can spread a variant unnecessarily from one part of the country to another, complicating efforts to get out of the pandemic, she said.
The deciding factor: is the risk worth it to your family?
The main point, experts say, is to postpone plans for an elaborate trip as long as possible. Although vaccines have been approved quickly for adults, the process takes more time for children because studies need to be carried out to determine the exact dose to be administered.
In the meantime, travel should be limited.
“Think about whether this risk is really worth it to your family,” said Grace Lee, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Stanford Children’s Hospital. “If you can just hold on for weeks to a few months, we will be in a better position. This risk will be reduced only by having the majority of the population vaccinated. “