Does the AstraZeneca jab cut it with US immigration?
Q I shall shortly be travelling to the US to see my daughter. Because there is still no entry allowed to passengers travelling direct from the UK to the US, I shall be “laundering” my UK status for 15 days in another country en route.
I am double-vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Since the US has only given formal recognition to the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, will US immigration regard me as vaccinated or non-vaccinated? I have my NHS vaccine certification, but a fat lot of good it will do me if the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't count. And if I’m categorised as “nonvaccinated”, what quarantine rules will apply to me on arrival in the US?
Name supplied
A America is off limits to people travelling direct from the UK and most of the rest of Europe until further notice. Yet there appears little concern about travellers coming in from other parts of the world. As with many other nations, you have to take a test before travel – or produce evidence of having recovered from coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says: “All air passengers coming to the United States, including US citizens and fully vaccinated people, are required to have a negative Covid-19 test result no more than three days before travel or documentation of recovery from Covid-19 in the past three months before they board a flight to the United States.” It also advises that you should have a second test three, four or five days after arrival.
People who are fully vaccinated need not quarantine. As you say, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Fortunately, the Foreign Office points out that it can also be a World Health Organisation-approved vaccine. Anecdotal evidence suggests US Customs and Border Protection are not overly interested in visitors' vaccination status.
You also need to be wary of individual state requirements or recommendations. For example, the Hawaii Tourism Authority says: “We are strongly advising visitors that now is not the right time to travel, and they should postpone their trips through the end of October.”
Finally, if you are laundering your status in Mexico, be warned you must spend at least 10 days away from this red-list country (eg in the amber list US) before returning to the UK.
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