Vax Mandates for Holiday Travelers? Psaki Makes Chilling Admission on Possible Domestic Travel Restrictions
Recent comments from the White House have left many wondering whether Americans who travel during the holidays will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
During her news briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki made it clear that such restrictions were being considered for domestic flights.
When asked point-blank if such restrictions may be arriving in the near future, Psaki was clear that they very well could be.
A reporter quoted “public health people” as saying, “Why not require a vaccine or a test to fly domestically?” and asked, “Why not go further in the direction of, you know, public health and mandates, given the potential risk and the fact that we’re headed into winter?”
“I would say that nothing is off the table, so — including domestic travel,” Psaki said, according to a White House transcript.
The White House press secretary went on to tout one policy the Biden administration is already implementing.
Domestic travelers by air who fail to comply with the “requirement of mask wearing” will be subject to a “doubling of fines,” she said.
Psaki then went on to explain how decisions about travel requirements will be made.
“We base our decisions on the advice of the health and medical experts, what’s going to be most effective, and what is — we can implement — what is most implementable,” Psaki said.
“So we look at a range of factors as we make decisions about what steps we can put in place,” she said. “So, again, nothing’s off the table.”
Basing decisions on “the advice of health and medical experts” has been a contentious position for politicians to take throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic for two reasons:
One, organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization do not have the expertise to measure the economic impact of many policy proposals — lockdowns, rent moratoriums and so forth.
Two, those organizations have flip-flopped on COVID policy on numerous occasions.
In fact, back in April, the CDC reversed itself on its coronavirus messaging several times in only one week.
All from the CDC within the last week ? pic.twitter.com/ZLgsr21JKp
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 2, 2021
These frequent flip-flops have called the efficacy of vaccines, masks and travel restrictions into question.
Nevertheless, Americans are being told they must continue to trust “the advice of health and medical experts,” knowing full well that “advice” could change completely at any given time.
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