The White House just announced a lift on travel restrictions for international visitors and travellers. Long overdue, the new rules will go into full effect in November, 2021. This effectively ends the travel ban and strict rules prohibiting international travel to the United States.
The new rules are outlined by having new testing and contact-tracing routines. In a statement, the White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey D.Zients, said that the new procedures will focus on whether or not a traveller has been vaccinated, rather than on where they’re from.
The announcement came on Monday, the 20th of September, after months of significant pressure from allied European officials. This move ended an 18-month long unconditional travel ban on 33 countries including the UK, members of the European Union, India, Brazil, Iran, and China.
What you need to know
All foreign travellers will need to show proof of their vaccination before boarding their flight. Moreover, they must provide a negative PCR test within three days before arriving in the United States.
However, Americans, or those who carry a Green Card or an American passport, will be subject to harsher regulations. Unvaccinated Americans who wish to return home will need to provide a negative coronavirus test taken one day before traveling to the U.S. They will need to show proof that they have already bought and paid for a test to get right after reaching American soil.
More details regarding which types of vaccines are considered viable are still incoming and expected to be fully outlined early in November. Such details will be mapped out by federal agencies. Nevertheless, The New York Times reports that Thomas Skinner, a CDC spokesman, affirmed in a statement that those who have received vaccines listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization like the AstraZeneca vaccine will be considered fully vaccinated.
The U.S government considers those who have received full doses of any acknowledged vaccine to be fully vaccinated within two weeks on receiving the second dose, or the only one when it comes to the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
In an effort to intensify contact tracing, the CDC has instructed airlines to collect phone numbers and email addresses of travellers. Officials will later follow up with travellers after arrival to check whether or not they are experiencing symptoms.
It is yet unclear whether these regulations will amount to something such as a vaccine passport, and whether or not they would apply to inland flights. It is also worth mentioning that these rules apply solely on international flights, while the restrictions on land borders remain unchanged.
This was a long-awaited move by the U.S government. Stalling and extending the ban has kept families apart, harmed businesses, and floored the tourism economy. As the days unfold, details will become clearer and hopefully, the procedures will be easily facilitated and arranged.