© Mark Makela/Getty ImagesPHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 02: A member of the U.S. Armed Forces administers a COVID-19 vaccine at a FEMA community vaccination center on March 2, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Located at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the site is being run as a partnership between the city and the federal government. It is part of a nearly $4 billion plan for FEMA to support more than 400 community vaccination centers across the country. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has so far declined to issue new guidance on travel for vaccinated Americans due to concerns about travel-related surges but is "looking forward" to updating guidance once more people get protected.
"What we have seen is that we have surges after people start traveling, we saw it after July 4, we saw it after Labor Day, we saw it after the Christmas holidays," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesdya in response to a question from CNN's Kaitlan Collins during a Covid-19 briefing.
Walensky said because 90% of people remain unvaccinated they will wait to update guidance until "we have more protection across the communities and across the population."
She declined to provide information for the 10% of Americans who are vaccinated and looking for guidance on whether it is safe for them to travel.
The issue of air travel for the vaccinated has become a hot-button issue, with the industry pushing back against the new CDC guidelines, according to CNN reporting.
In a statement, industry group Airlines For America insists being on board a plane poses a low risk of coronavirus infection because of heavily filtered air and federally mandated mask wearing.
"We remain confident that this layered approach significantly reduces risk," the group said.
This story is breaking and will be updated.