Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admits Covid-19 vaccines not effective enough to allow recipients to travel on cruise ships.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an advisory Thursday recommending that all travelers avoid cruises, regardless of vaccination status, Forbes reports.
- The agency is investigating Covid-19 outbreaks on 91 cruise ships.
- The advisory notes that both fully vaccinated travelers and those who have received a booster dose have a “very high” chance of catching Covid-19 aboard cruise ships because of the “close quarters.”
- “Avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status,” reads the CDC memo. “Even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.”
- The vaccine’s ineffectiveness at permitting recipients to travel on cruise ships raises questions about the vaccine’s legitimacy in general, especially considering that areas with low vaccination rates such as South Africa are enjoying a “rapid decline of the prevalence” of Covid-19, as The Wall Street Journal reports.
WHAT ELSE THE CDC SAID:
“The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships, and the chance of getting COVID-19 on cruise ships is very high, even if you are fully vaccinated and have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.”
“Avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status.”
BACKGROUND:
- In a statement, the Cruise Line International Association characterized the CDC’s recommendation as “perplexing considering that cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim majority of the total population on board.”
- The organization is “disappointed and disagrees” with the CDC’s decision to “single out the cruise industry.”
