A new vaccine deadline for essential travelers
Essential noncitizen travelers crossing U.S. land borders will be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 beginning Jan. 22, according to the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce.
Restrictions against nonessential travel at the U.S.Mexico border eased up earlier this month to allow for fully vaccinated travelers to cross for nonessential activities such as tourism and family visits.
The restrictions prohibiting nonessential travel were imposed from March 2020 to November 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Essential workers have been permitted to continue crossing the border regardless of their vaccination status.
When the U.S.-Mexico border reopened Nov. 8 to vaccinated nonessential travelers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would eventually apply the same vaccinate mandate to travelers who crossed the border for essential reasons, such as trade, work, school and medial appointments.
The deadline was originally set for Jan. 1 but now has been extended to Jan. 22, according to the Otay Mesa business organization and a report by the Associated Press, citing a senior White House official. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond Saturday to a request for confirmation.
The senior administration official told AP that the requirement brings the rules for essential travelers in line with those that took effect earlier this month for nonessential travelers.
The new mandate will apply to foreigners crossing the border for essential reasons, including Mexican truck drivers, aid workers and health workers.
The rules pertain only to non-U.S. nationals. U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents may still enter the U.S. regardless of their vaccination status. The Biden administration reportedly pushed back the deadline for the mandate to prevent disruptions in North American trade.
Israel Delgado, regional vice president of Mexico’s National Chamber of the Trucking Industry, said that among the 5,500 drivers in the association, the vast majority have already been vaccinated.
“We’ve been getting data from all the trucking companies to see what the percentage of drivers who have been vaccinated already is and what we can see is that about 80 to 85 percent are already ready to go,” Delgado said.
The high vaccine rate is largely thanks to a crossborder vaccination program spearheaded by the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Delgado added.
The organization has been hosting vaccination clinics for larger employers with cross-border employees in the South Bay.
“The unique advantage to having vaccinations on site for large employers is that workers only take a few minutes to get vaccinated and then go back to work,” said Alejandra Mier y Teran, executive director of the Otay Mesa Chamber.
Along with UC San Diego Health, the Otay Mesa business organization will be hosting vaccine clinics at TruckNet on Avenida de la Fuente on Tuesday and Jensen Meats on Thursday. More information is available through the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce.