Passenger volumes for U.S. air travel reached the highest levels since before the coronavirus pandemic begun over Memorial Day weekend, marking the latest sign of recovery for the virus stricken sector.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened an average of 1.78 million travelers from Friday through Monday, peaking at about 1.96 million on Friday--the highest daily total since March 7, 2020, or before the World Health Organization declared the global COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. These volumes compare to an average of about 326,000 last year, but are still 22% below passenger volumes seen during the holiday weekend in 2019.
The new domestic travel trends are encouraging as the United States begins to recover from its pandemic rut as more of the population becomes fully vaccinated. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 50% of the total U.S. population has received at least one COVID vaccine, with 41% being fully vaccinated against the virus.
In the U.S., a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of either the Pfizer
Due to the nation's current vaccine trends, the U.S. is now averaging about 15,600 new daily infections and 360 daily deaths, far below their respective peaks of more than 250,000 and 3,600 back in January, according to CDC data.
The U.S. has confirmed a total of over 33.1 million COVID cases and more than 592,000 deaths since that start of the pandemic.
In effort to increase the vaccinated Americans, President Joe Biden has set a goal to have 70% of U.S. adults receiving at least one dose of a COVID vaccine by July 4, the nation's Independence Day. Currently, about 63% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose and nearly 52% are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Biden doubled down on his vaccination goal, declaring June to be the "national month of action" to get more Americans vaccinated by the July 4 deadline.
To help with the effort, the Biden administration has asked pharmacies to extend their hours for the month of June and is partnering with child-care providers to offer free services to all parents to get vaccinated or recover from their shots. The administration is also launching efforts to call and text people in areas with low vaccination rates to encourage them to get the shot and it challenging mayors to compete to see which city can get vaccinated the fastest.
Twelve states have met the 70% vaccination goal so far, according to CNBC, those being California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
"America is headed into the summer dramatically different from last year's summer: a summer of freedom, a summer of joy, a summer of get-togethers and celebrations. An all-American summer than this country deserves after a long, long dark winter that we've all endured," Biden stated in remarks at the White House on Wednesday.
"Because of the vaccination strategy, our economic strategy, we're experiencing the strongest economic recovery this country has seen in decades."
