Infectious Disease

Biden signs order to relax international travel rules for vaccinated passengers

October 25, 2021

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president Joe Biden ruled on Monday that restrictions on international travel to the United States should be based on travelers’ vaccination status, not their country of origin.

The pandemic-related travel restrictions to the United States began in early 2020 under former President Trump. Travel to the USA has been restricted for non-citizens traveling within 2 weeks of their stay in South Africa, Brazil, Great Britain, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe due to emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Source: Adobe Stock.

President Biden signed an order on Monday easing travel restrictions on vaccinated travelers to the United States. Source: Adobe Stock.

The new rules, which go into effect Nov. 8, require all non-citizens who are not immigrants to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination prior to the flight, a senior official from the Biden administration said. Any vaccine approved or approved by the FDA or WHO is accepted.

Children under the age of 18 and travelers from countries where fewer than 10% of people are vaccinated due to a lack of vaccines are exempt from the rule, the official said.

Unvaccinated passengers – including American citizens and legal permanent residents – are required to present a negative COVID-19 test within one day of departing for the United States, according to the official.

Fully vaccinated individuals traveling to the United States – regardless of their citizenship – are required to provide proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test, which was done within 3 days of travel, the official said.

Children under 2 years of age do not have to take a test.

With vaccination rates soaring in the US and elsewhere, Biden said, “It is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-specific restrictions previously in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and put in place an air travel policy.” which relies primarily on vaccinations to facilitate the safe resumption of international air traffic to the United States. “

Passengers traveling to the United States must provide basic, valid contact information to airlines prior to departure, the White House official said.

“This will allow airlines to better coordinate with public health authorities, share information when needed, keep the public safe and informed, and strengthen their ability to quickly identify people in the United States who may have been exposed to a communicable disease and how to contact COVID-19, ”the official said.

The CDC said it has issued orders to implement the new policy.

References:

CDC. CDC is issuing orders to operationalize the president’s safer and stricter international travel system. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p1025-International-Travel-System.html. Accessed October 25, 2021.

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