White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci welcomed the possibility of introducing vaccine mandates for domestic air travel Sunday, challenging President Joe Biden’s earlier comment.
Fauci appeared on ABC News’ “This Week” Sunday, where he was asked if he agreed with the president’s assessment that domestic air travel vaccine mandates were not “necessary at this time.”
“Do you agree with that? That there shouldn’t be a vaccine requirement for domestic air travel?” the show’s co-host Jonathan Karl asked Fauci.
“Well, it depends on what you want to use it for,” the senior public health official responded. “I mean, vaccine requirements for people coming in from other countries is to prevent newly infected people from getting into the country.”
WATCH:
Fauci on a vaccine mandate for domestic air travel: “Anything to get more people vaccinated would be welcome” pic.twitter.com/f1t8DPiyY6
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 26, 2021
Fauci then went on to say that such a requirement, if imposed, would serve as another “mechanism that would spur them [people] to get vaccinated.”
“I mean, anything that could get people more vaccinated would be welcome,” he added.
A group of Democratic legislators urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to impose domestic air travel vaccine mandates in a letter from Dec. 20. (RELATED: Hundreds Of Google Employees Sign Letter Opposing Company’s Vaccine Mandate)
As per the CDC guidelines, either a negative test or proof of vaccination is currently required for international air travel, and the lawmakers argued that the existing regulations could be easily modified to apply to domestic travel as well.