US easing foreign travel restrictions
The United States announced a new international air travel system Monday, opening travel for all vaccinated foreign nationals in early November, including those currently impacted by the U.S. travel ban.
“This vaccination requirement deploys the best tool we have in our arsenal to keep people safe and prevent the spread of the virus,” said White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients. “Vaccines continue to show that they’re highly effective, including against the delta variant, and the new system allows us to implement strict protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Travelers will need to show proof of full vaccination prior to boarding U.S.bound planes. A coronavirus test will also continue to be required within three days of departure, and proof of negative results must be shown. Enhanced contact tracing and masking will also be required, but there will be no quarantine mandate.
The new policy also adds more stringent testing requirements for unvaccinated U.S. travelers, who will need to test within one day of departure and once again after arrival.
Zients said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will release a list of accepted vaccinations before the new policy goes into effect, as well as a contact tracing order that requires airlines to collect information such as phone numbers and email addresses of all U.S.-bound travelers.
“This will enable CDC and state and local public health officials to follow up with inbound travelers and those around them as someone has potentially been exposed to COVID-19 or other pathogens,” Zients said.
Vaccinated Americans are still subject to the CDC’s requirement, put in place in January, to test negative for the coronavirus no more than three days before an international flight to the U.S.
The U.S. ban on nonessential travel has been in place since early 2020, starting with China and expanding to visitors from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the 29 regions in the European Schengen region, Iran, Brazil, South Africa and India.
European Union Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis hinted at the decision on Twitter earlier Monday, before sharing the news: “Travel ban lifted! Vaccinated, pre-flight tested Europeans will again be able to travel to the US from November, just as vaccinated Americans are today allowed to travel to the EU.”
The U.S. has been among the slowest countries to lift its restrictions. While Canada reopened its land borders to U.S. travelers in early August, the U.S. has yet to announce when it will ease its land border restrictions. And even as European countries eased travel restrictions on U.S. travelers in the early summer months, the United States’ travel ban held fast.
In mid-July, as the country was under mounting pressure from European capitals and travel industry leaders to lift the travel ban, President Joe Biden said suggested changes would be announced in the coming days.
But as COVID-19 cases began to spike once again, the administration pivoted and announced that travel restrictions would remain in place.