CNN’s Dr. Wen: Fully Vaccinated People ‘Should Be Able to Travel,’ CDC ‘Overly Cautious in a Way that Defies Common Sense’

On Monday’s “CNN Newsroom,” CNN Medical Analyst, ER physician, Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University Visiting Professor, and former Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen criticized the CDC’s guidelines on what fully vaccinated individuals can do by saying that the advice that fully vaccinated individuals avoid traveling is “far overly cautious in a way that defies common sense.” And that she believes fully vaccinated individuals “should be able to travel, should be encouraged to travel.”

Wen said, “There is now growing evidence that getting the vaccines also reduces your likelihood of being a carrier. We don’t know exactly know how much this reduces that risk, but it’s probably substantially lower and that means maybe, in theory, you could be asymptomatic yourself, but could infect others, but that chance is still much lower. And so, that’s actually why I wish the CDC guidelines went a lot further than they actually did.”

Wen added that the CDC advising fully vaccinated individuals to avoid travel “is one of these examples where I think the CDC is being far overly cautious in a way that defies common sense. Because look at what they’re saying about quarantine. So, they’re saying that if somebody, knowingly, is exposed to an individual with COVID-19 and they’re fully vaccinated, they don’t need to test or get quarantined. If you’re sitting on a plane, you’re not necessarily sitting next to people with COVID-19, you’re wearing a mask, ideally, you’re keeping distanced. And so, it just doesn’t make sense that you can’t travel, especially if you now can get together with loved ones. I think a lot of people are eager to see their grandkids who they don’t necessarily live with. And so, I think it’s really important to give the guidance about travel. And I actually would go further and say that people who are fully vaccinated should be able to travel, should be encouraged to travel. And that’s one of those incentives that we can give as a way for restoring freedoms that you are now able to travel and go visit your loved ones and go to museums and cultural institutions once you’re fully vaccinated.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett