No Restrictions for Fully Vaccinated Feds on Official Travel

The government has lifted all limits on official travel for fully vaccinated federal employees, according to new guidance. That means they will not have to self-quarantine or be subject to testing before or after domestic travel, unless required by their destination.

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force posted the new guidance about official travel on Thursday, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance about travel for individuals who are fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated means individuals are two weeks past their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, or two weeks past the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

“There are no governmentwide limits on official travel for federal employees who are fully vaccinated,” says the guidance. “Employees should follow their agency’s travel policy. Agencies may have collective bargaining obligations regarding implementation of any changes to official travel policies that have been in place for bargaining unit employees.” 

Fully vaccinated federal employees leaving the United States don’t need to get tested before departure, unless testing is required by the country they are visiting. They also don’t need to quarantine before returning to the United States. 

“However, all air passengers coming to the United States from abroad, including federal employees who are fully vaccinated, are required to have a negative SARS-CoV-2 viral test result no more than three days before the flight to the United States departs or must show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 within the previous 90 days before they board a flight to the United States,” says the guidance. “Fully vaccinated travelers should also get tested with a viral test 3-5 days after travel, self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms, if symptoms develop isolate and get tested, and follow all recommendations or requirements of their U.S. destination after travel.” 

For those employees not fully vaccinated, official travel—both domestic and international—is limited to mission critical trips. Such trips include “military deployments, COVID-19 response deployments/activities, diplomats traveling, high-level international negotiations that cannot occur remotely,” said the task force. “Federal employees who are not fully vaccinated should take recommended precautions” during such travel. 

Masks are still required on public transportation.