New guidelines from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force state that fully vaccinated federal employees do not have any travel restrictions when on official travel. However, for federal employees who are not fully vaccinated there are still restrictions.
Fully vaccinated federal employees do not have any governmentwide travel restrictions when on official travel. The Task Force notes that federal employees should follow their agency’s travel policy and that agencies may have collective bargaining obligations regarding implementation of any changes to official travel policies that have been in place for bargaining unit employees.
Federal employees who are not fully vaccinated are limited to mission critical trips. The Task Force also notes that these employees should avoid international travel if at all possible.
The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force also said that fully vaccinated federal employees do not need to get tested for COVID prior to travel (both domestic travel or leaving the United States), but will need to get tested upon return from traveling abroad and are required to have a negative test within 3 days of the flight departing to the United States or must show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 within the previous 90 days before they board a flight to the United States.
Who is Considered Fully Vaccinated?
The Safer Federal Workforce states:
People are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 ≥2 weeks after they have received the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or ≥2 weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson and Johnson (J&J)/Janssen).
This guidance applies to COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson’s (J&J) Janssen COVID-19 vaccines. This guidance also applies to COVID-19 vaccines that have been listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization (e.g., AstraZeneca/Oxford).
