The summer of 2022 delivered on predictions it would be the season of “revenge travel,” with countries dropping coronavirus restrictions, passengers filling up long-haul flights and cruise ships, and demand soaring to levels not seen since 2019.
With the winter holidays approaching, that demand shows no signs of slowing down. The Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 2.5 million passengers on Sunday, the highest daily figure since February 2020.
Still, the coronavirus has remained persistent, scuttling long-awaited plans, straining the travel industry’s workforce, and making many summer trips turn hellish.
Now, health experts are warning another winter surge could be ahead, with cases already rising in Europe and researchers keeping an eye on new strains of the virus.
The uptick comes as many Americans headed abroad will have less protection against the dominant omicron variant because vaccination rates for the new bivalent booster are lagging.
As of early October, only about 4 percent of eligible Americans had received the new shot. ♦
