NIH director: Holiday travel for unvaccinated ‘not a great idea’

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins said on Sunday that holiday travel would not be advisable for unvaccinated people due to the quickly spreading omicron variant.

Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Collins said that any travel should be done “very carefully.”

“I think airplanes, now with required masking, probably being on an airplane is a fairly safe place to be. But think about how you’re going to get there and how you can make sure you’re safe along the way,” said Collins.

“And that certainly means if you’re not vaccinated, I would say travel is really not a great idea because you are in a very vulnerable place now with omicron. If you are vaccinated and boosted, wear your mask,” he added.

Host Margaret Brennan also asked Collins for his thoughts on suggestions from health experts like Anthony Fauci that current diagnostic tests for the coronavirus may not be as accurate when it comes to the omicron variant.

“Right now, I’m pretty reassured by the early evidence that the commonly used tests that you can get in the pharmacy that allow you to do testing at home are probably going to be okay,” Collins said. “So, hold tight on that. There are a few of these so-called PCR tests, actually ones that are not in very heavy use, that may not work for Omicron, and those are posted on the [Food and Drug Administration] website.”

Sunday was Collins’ last day as NIH director. He announced in October that he would be stepping down after more than a decade as the head of the federal health agency.