US announces to lift travel ban for fully vaccinated passengers in early November

The White House plans to allow non-US citizen travellers from countries who have been barred from the United States since early 2020 as it moves to the new requirements, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said.

The US restrictions were first imposed on travelers from China in January 2020 by then-president Donald Trump and extended to other countries in the following months, without any clear metrics for how and when to lift them.

President Joe Biden in April of this year added new travel restrictions on India, barring most non-US citizens from entering the United States. Biden also reversed plans by Trump in January to lift restrictions on European countries.

The United States currently bars most non-US citizens who within the last 14 days have been in Britain, the 26 Schengen countries in Europe without border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

There will be some exceptions to the vaccine policy, officials said, including for children not yet eligible to be vaccinated. The new rules do not yet apply to travelers crossing land borders with Mexico and Canada.

Zients said passengers will need to show they were fully vaccinated before boarding planes to the US, as well as providing proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within three days.

Americans not fully vaccinated will still be able to enter but only on testing negative within a day of travel.

Masks will be obligatory on US-bound flights and airlines will provide the US health authorities with contact tracing information.

"This new international travel system follows the science to keep Americans' international air travel safe," Zients said.

SOURCE: AFP