U.S. to relax travel
restrictions for vaccinated foreign air travelers in November
Reuters – 08 November 2021
WASHINGTON,
Sept 20 (Reuters) - The United States will reopen in November to air travelers
from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are
fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the
White House said on Monday, easing tough pandemic-related restrictions that
started early last year.
The
decision, announced by White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff
Zients, marked an abrupt shift for President Joe Biden's administration, which
said last week it was not the right time to lift any restrictions amid rising COVID-19 cases.
The United
States had lagged many other countries in lifting such restrictions, and allies
welcomed the move. The U.S. restrictions have barred travelers from most of the
world including tens of thousands of foreign nationals with relatives or
business links in the United States.
The
United States will admit fully vaccinated air
travelers from the 26 so-called Schengen countries in Europe including France,
Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Greece, as well as Britain, Ireland,
China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil. The unprecedented U.S.
restrictions have barred non-U.S. citizens who were in those countries within
the past 14 days.
Restrictions
on non-U.S. citizens were first imposed on air travelers from China in January
2020 by then-President Donald Trump and then extended to dozens of other
countries, without any clear metrics for how and when to lift them.
Zients
did not give a precise start date for the new rules beyond saying "early
November," and many details of the new policy are still being decided.
Separately
on Monday, the United States extended its pandemic-related restrictions at land
borders with Canada and Mexico that bar nonessential travel such as tourism
through Oct. 21. It gave no indication if it would apply the new vaccine rules
to those land border crossings.
The
United States has allowed foreign air travelers from more than 150 countries
throughout the pandemic, a policy that critics said made little sense because
some countries with high COVID-19 rates were not on the restricted list, while
some on the list had the pandemic more under control.
Monday's
action means COVID-19 vaccine requirements will now apply to nearly all foreign
nationals flying to the United States - including those not subject to the
prior restrictions.
Americans
traveling from abroad who are not vaccinated will face tougher rules than
vaccinated citizens, including needing to show proof of a negative COVID-19
test within a day of travel and proof of purchasing a viral test to be taken
after arrival.
'BASING
IT ON SCIENCE'
Airlines
for America, an industry trade group, said that through late August,
international air travel was down 43% from pre-pandemic levels.
The
announcement comes as President Joe Biden makes his first U.N. General Assembly
speech on Tuesday, and hosts leaders from Britain, India, Japan and Australia
this week.
White
House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday the policy was not timed
for diplomacy. "If we were going to make things much easier for ourselves,
we would have done it prior to June, when the president had his first foreign
trip, or earlier this summer. This is when the process concluded," she
said. "We're basing it on science."
Passengers
depart Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport ahead of the
Thanksgiving holiday during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., November 23, 2020. REUTERS/Chris Aluka Berry
U.S.
COVID-19 infections and deaths have skyrocketed since June as the Delta variant
spreads, particularly among the unvaccinated. Nearly 29,000 new U.S. cases were
reported on Sunday.
British
Airways Chief Executive Sean Doyle said the U.S. announcement "marks a
historic moment and one which will provide a huge boost to Global Britain as it
emerges from this pandemic."
Shares in
U.S. airlines were little changed, while some European carriers gained. British
Airways parent IAG SA (ICAG.L) rose
11.2%, while Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA)
and Deutsche Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) AG
closed up more than 5%.
British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the announcement "a fantastic boost
for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the
pond can be reunited once again." Germany's U.S. ambassador, Emily Haber,
said on Twitter it was "hugely important to promote people-to-people
contacts and transatlantic business."
It will
have less impact travel from China, which requires its residents to quarantine
for at least two weeks on return home. International flights from China are
capped and running at around 2% of 2019 levels, a situation expected to last
until the second half of next year. read more
CDC HAS
FINAL WORD ON VACCINES ACCEPTED
Foreign
nationals will need to present proof of vaccination before travel and will not
be required to quarantine on arrival.The White House said the final decision on
what vaccines would be accepted is up to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC
on Monday pointed to its prior guidance when asked what vaccines it will
accept.
"The
CDC considers someone fully vaccinated with any FDA-authorized or approved
vaccines and any vaccines that (the World Health Organization) has
authorized," said spokesperson Kristen Nordlund. That list could change
pending additions by either agency, she said.
Exceptions
include children not yet eligible for shots. Airlines heavily lobbied the White
House to lift the restrictions, and it has been working since August on the new
plan.
The U.S.
Travel Association trade group previously estimated that the U.S. restrictions,
if they ran to the end of the year, would cost the American economy $325
billion.
Zients said
last Wednesday that given the rise of the Delta variant, it was not the right
time to lift travel restrictions. Asked on Monday what had changed since then,
Zients cited rising global vaccinations, adding: "The new system allows us
to implement strict protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19."
Zients
said the new system would include collecting contact tracing data from
passengers traveling into the United States to enable the CDC to contact
travelers exposed to COVID-19.
The
administration has been considering imposing vaccine requirements for foreign
nationals since May, officials said, but the White House only decided on Friday
to move forward.
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