Could the CDC’s unconventional New Travel Guide move back a small request? Hopefully not, but why is there a danger?

It seems, there is one idea, just when the US airline industry is probably, sort’a, kind’a, if you look through rose-colored-rose-lenses you start to see first signs of a possible resurgence in travel demand that U.S. Centers for Disease Control issue new guidance urging Americans to get full vaccination still without travel.

On Monday Raymond James

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Airline analyst Savanthi Syth released a surprisingly interesting report noting that U.S. carriers began launching about two weeks ago seeing a change in flight maintenance trends that are showing better second season. True, that ‘s a hoarse and cave – filled way of saying “hey, maybe things are getting a little better out there, maybe. “But for an organization that posted a $ 35 billion higher U.S. loss last year, it blew the top off all previous debt records, cutting combined employee levels by more than 100,000 (if you count everyone who would have already been fired if the federal government did not cover the salary directly for now), and continue to lose $ 150 million in cash every day, that is a very optimistic piece of news.

But 24 hours later CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky went on TV and poured buckets of cold water on the idea that it might be okay for at least some Americans start flying again.

In a poignant message and briefing intended to be an example of a textbook on why directors should never read long, strong or formal statements and explanations to live or TV audiences, offer Walensky new guidance from her honorary organization on what completely America will be able to vaccinate and where they go. Among other things, such people, she said, can hang out with friends and family who are also fully vaccinated or are otherwise at risk from Covid-19.

But instead of also encouraging them to start traveling again – if not for their own mental health and enjoyment, then for the good of the economy – Walensky urged Americans to introduce a full vaccine no travel until the disease is under full control. Of course, we still have a long way to go before that happens.

That piece of headline “direction” from Walensky raises two obvious questions.

First, what does it mean, then, to be “vaccinated? “If, as a result of getting the vaccine, we are very unlikely to get or release Covid-19 what is keeping us from traveling? And secondly, if the vaccine is not enough to allow us to travel (assuming we wear masks, wash our hands often, maintain social distance and take other steps to protect ourselves and others), why it is okay for us to start. repeating those other things that the CDC is now saying that people can fully resume vaccination? The group cannot be in two ways. The vaccine is either effective or not. It may not be effective in some situations but it is not effective in others.

Perhaps more importantly, Walensky’s unmistakable and confused performance – and the general direction that came with the literal generations from her group – now ranks as the best example of why technocrats should not be allowed to set any kind of rules or, as in this case, even “guidelines” for our society without much support from experts in other fields who are likely to agree with them or provide important additional analysis and different perspectives.

Researchers, business and political leaders, lawyers, engineers, philosophers, and thinkers on topics such as mental health, education, economics, politics, human behavior, foreign policy, business, etc. must be consulted – together with experts in that it is difficult to master all subjects, common sense – before such rules or guidance are issued. That’s because it’s clear that technocrats will always make decisions that have at least unintended consequences that are balanced, and sometimes outweigh the expectations. by enforcing the rules or guidelines of the technocrats.

Certainly, there are no data yet that show that Monday ‘s new guidance from the CDC will kill no matter what the move may be toward a small increase in travel demand. And such evidence may never exist. Of course, this is the hope that there will not even be such evidence that would make this argument so convincing.

But clearly the whole travel industry – not just the airlines but especially the hotel industry as well as amenities, restaurants, conference and exhibition facilities, travel consultants and designers, land transport companies and more – depending on with thread these days. Customers and revenue are desperately needed. And most have to come from leisure travelers because business travel and stays for several more months are frozen with concerns about physical liability if travelers become ill, with strict restrictions on overtime travel. borders between most countries, and with no financial impact. on businesses of their total or total closures over the past year.

So the CDC directed against vaccinated Americans – those who are at least two weeks past their second-dose vaccine doses (or similarly past the new single-shot Johnson & Johnson)

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vaccine) – travel is a good example of technocratic tunnel vision. The CDC certainly does an important job, even heroic in many ways. But when it comes to offering rules or guidelines that affect the way millions of Americans live and whether or not thousands upon thousands of businesses survive or fail, it is sees its mission as ONLY to stop the Covid-19 release. It does not consider the many other consequences that are just as severe or worse as the weakness of travel demand that is unprecedented: lost jobs, bankruptcy, stressed people, divorce, suicide, educational decline, and more mental and physical health issues.

Of course, this also leads to the question: Why is the travel industry campaigning for the CDC to play a key role in developing a system called “vaccine passport” that would be accepted? to him all over the world?

On Tuesday, a group of more than two dozen U.S. and foreign airlines, their unions and other aviation interests, lobbying groups representing other travel industry divisions, and even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the Biden Administration. Here, they called on the Biden Administration to work to ensure that the CDC plays a leading role in the ongoing global effort to develop “vaccine licenses” that will monitoring the health status of individuals vis-à-vis Covid-19. Such passports would be used to find out if people are allowed to travel across borders, or enter certain facilities.

Efforts to improve these systems raise many questions. What data should and should not be collected? Who will prove it? How is the privacy of individuals protected? Can vaccine licenses be used as a discriminatory tool? And those are just a few of the obvious questions. There are many others, some of which may not be important to Americans but which are of paramount importance in other cultures or countries, or vice versa.

As the world’s leading disease detection, prevention and treatment organization, the CDC appears to be the single body to lead a global effort to collect vaccine data and help guide its access. and determining for what purposes such data may be used. However, the CDC is not currently obliged to play that role, nor is it funded to do so. That’s why the large group of travel agencies is urging the Biden Administration to authorize – and fund – the CDC.

Several vaccine passport systems are already underdeveloped. Singapore airlines said this week that this is the first airline to begin testing that system being developed by the International Air Transport Association. But competitive systems are being developed in countries that may, in some cases, not want to share data with other specific countries. There are still many technical, policy, financial and legal questions about the IATA-supported system. However, many across the industry suggest that the IATA system is the best candidate for building and operating an effective and globally available vaccine consent system.

At the same time, the legal issues seem to be particularly important and almost certainly require the involvement of governments around the world.

Airlines themselves are very willing to build such a system. First, they are broken and cannot build such a system right now. More importantly, they fear that if they coordinate their efforts and develop their own single system – or several competing systems like that – without the involvement of government they could become targets of bids against trusts or allegations that they are using vaccine passports and the databases behind these systems. as a competitive weapon, or to discriminate against individuals based on their country of origin, health conditions, or other criteria. That’s why other travel businesses are desperate for technical and legal support from government – and government funding.