BIDEN IMPOSES NEW INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL VACCINE RULES, LIFTS EXISTING RESTRICTIONS

YashOctober 27, 20210 Comments

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an order on Monday requiring new vaccines for most foreign national air travellers and lifting severe travel restrictions on China, India, and much of Europe, effective Nov. 8, according to the White House.

The unexpected travel restrictions in the United States were first imposed in early 2020 in response to the spread of COVID-19. Most non-US citizens who have spent the previous 14 days in the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen countries in Europe with no border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran, or Brazil are barred from entering the country.

“It is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions previously applied during the COVID-19 pandemic and to adopt an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the United States,” According to Biden’s proclamation.

The White House confirmed that children under the age of 18 are exempt from the new vaccination requirements, as are people with certain medical conditions. Non-tourist visitors from nearly 50 countries with national vaccination rates of less than 10% will also be exempt from the rules. Those who receive an exemption must usually be vaccinated within 60 days of arriving in the United States. Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Armenia, Myanmar, Iraq, Nicaragua, Senegal, Uganda, Libya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Congo, Kenya, Yemen, Haiti, Chad, and Madagascar are among them. The White House announced on September 20 that restrictions on fully vaccinated air travellers from 33 countries would be lifted in early November.

“Families and friends can see each other again, tourists can visit our amazing landmarks. This policy will further boost economic recovery,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The Biden administration also outlined the procedures that airlines must follow to ensure that foreign passengers have been vaccinated before boarding flights bound for the United States.One concern among US officials and airlines is ensuring that foreign travellers are aware of the new vaccine rules, which will go into effect in just two weeks, as well as unvaccinated Americans, who will face stricter testing requirements.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States issued new contact tracing rules on Monday, requiring airlines to collect information from international air passengers such as phone numbers, email addresses, and U.S. addresses and retain it for 30 days in case it is needed. “To follow up with travellers who have been exposed to COVID-19 variants or other pathogens.”

The CDC announced earlier this month that it will accept any vaccine approved for use by US regulators or the World Health Organization, as well as mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from travelers. That list leaves off the Sputnik vaccine that has been used by Latin American countries extensively.

The Mexican government has stated that it intends to use its 24 million doses of Sputnik to immunize nearly 9% of the population A Biden administration official said Monday that some other major vaccines “are going to be under review as the data on performance of those vaccines becomes available in a regulatory process.”

The Transportation Security Administration intends to issue a security directive that will serve as the legal foundation for airlines to implement vaccine requirements. It is a crime, according to the attestation form, for air travelers to lie about their vaccination status.

The CDC said there are no religious exemptions for international travelers seeking to avoid COVID-19 requirements.

Foreign air travelers will be required to provide vaccination documentation from an “official source,” and airlines will be required to confirm that the last dose was at least two weeks prior to the travel date

International passengers will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of departure. Unvaccinated Americans and foreign nationals who receive exemptions will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test within one day of departure, according to the White House

The Biden administration intends to release details later this week about its parallel plans to lift restrictions on land border crossings for vaccinated foreign nationals on Nov. 8.

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U.S. President Joe Biden signed an order imposing new vaccine requirements for most foreign national air travelers and lifting severe travel restrictions on China, India, and much of Europe effective Nov. 8
The White House confirmed that children under the age of 18 are exempt from the new vaccination requirements, as are people with certain medical conditions
Those who receive an exemption must usually be vaccinated within 60 days of arriving in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced earlier this month that it will accept any vaccine approved for use by US regulators or the World Health Organization, as well as mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from travelers. That list leaves off the Sputnik vaccine that has been used by Latin American countries extensively