By Heather Murphy, The New York Times
Millions of Americans are expected to travel over Christmas and New Year’s, with some booking sites, such as Hopper, predicting that even international travel will approach prepandemic levels. As travelers try to decide whether to commit to their plans, many are grappling with the question: What if I test positive even though I’m vaccinated, and get stuck somewhere far from home?
It’s not an outrageous question. In 2019, more than 5 million people flew into the United States over the holiday period, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Every person age 2 and up who is returning to the United States from abroad by air — including vaccinated American citizens — has to take a coronavirus test within a day of their flight home. Even if the numbers of those traveling hover far below 2019 levels, some people will have to cancel their flights to the United States because they tested positive.
Of course, for people who become severely sick with Covid, the immediate concerns go far beyond getting stuck. Over the past week, an average of 7,052 people around the world — including nearly 1,300 people in the United States — died each day from the coronavirus. For vaccinated people, the implications are generally less dire. Worrying about your inability to board a flight can feel self-indulgent when I.C.U.s in many places are overwhelmed. But from a planning perspective, the consequences are not insignificant.
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