even months since the United States’ vaccine rollout got underway, only half of Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the. Even when you factor in all the Americans who have natural immunity after recovering from the illness, the country still has a long way to go before reaching population immunity and putting a fork in the Covid-19 pandemic, say public health experts.
A new Harris Poll reveals that Americans are paying closer attention to the delta variant and beginning to. Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they are checking Covid case numbers or infection rates for their destinations before they go. And if they had a vacation planned to an area of the country that was experiencing a Covid surge, a majority of Americans now say they would either postpone the trip until it felt safe or cancel entirely .Not even a cheap flight can change minds.
In the span of a week, a trio of U.S. airlines have stepped up in the effort to get more Americans vaccinated. United Airlines became the first major U.S. carrier to mandate vaccines for its roughly 67,000 employees, who must be fully vaccinated by October 25 or risk termination. “As we continue to watch the rapid increase of new Covid-19 cases across the United States caused by the delta variant, I am concerned for the well-being of our team members, their families and friends,” said Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle in a statement. “The time has come to do what we can to help put an end to Covid-19.” The low-cost airlines has also been running promotions that dangle free flights and bonus miles for vaccinated flyers.
“Due to the highly contagious Covid-19 delta variant, we are looking closely at whether we will require that employees are vaccinated,” said Alaska Airlines in a statement. “If we do, the requirement would not be effective until at least one vaccine is fully approved by the FDA and would include appropriate religious and medical exemptions. We have a duty to keep our employees safe.