US warns against travel to 80% of world due to coronavirus
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. State Department said on Monday it will boost its “Do Not Travel” guidance to about 80 percent of countries worldwide, citing “unprecedented risk to travelers” from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This update will result in a significant increase in the number of countries at Level 4: Do Not Travel, to approximately 80 percent of countries worldwide,” the department said in a statement.
The State Department already listed 34 out of about 200 countries as “Level 4: Do Not Travel,” including places like Chad, Kosovo, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina, Haiti, Mozambique, Russia and Tanzania. Getting to 80 percent would imply adding nearly 130 countries.
Most Americans were already prevented from traveling to much of Europe because of COVID-19 restrictions. Washington has barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in most of Europe, China, Brazil, Iran and South Africa.
The State Department said the move does not imply a reassessment of current health situations in some countries, but rather “reflects an adjustment in the State Department’s Travel Advisory system to rely more on (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s) existing epidemiological assessments.”
CDC did not immediately comment.
Earlier this month, the CDC said people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely travel within the United States at “low risk” but CDC Director Rochelle Walensky discouraged Americans from doing so because of high coronavirus cases nationwide.
“We know that right now we have a surging number of cases. I would advocate against general travel overall,” Walensky said. “We are not recommending travel at this time, especially for unvaccinated individuals.”
JJ vaccine reviewed
The United States is reviewing reports of a handful of potential cases of severe side effects among people who received Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, in addition to those that led to a pause in its use, a top U.S. public health official said on Monday.
U.S. health regulators called for a pause in administering the JJ vaccine last week due to reports of serious brain blood clots in six women under age 50 who received the shot out of some 7 million vaccinated with it in the United States.
“We are encouraged that it hasn’t been an overwhelming number of cases but we’re looking and seeing what’s come in,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said during a Monday news briefing.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is monitoring the U.S. government’s database for additional reports of side effects, she added. Walensky did not provide any details on the nature of the additional side effects.
An advisory panel for the CDC is meeting on Friday to review data on severe side effects and will make a recommendation on whether the United States should resume using the JJ vaccine.