The U.S. said Monday it will lift coronavirus travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers, reopening its borders for the first time in more than a year.
This is reported by Politico.
The head of the White House’s COVID-19 Response Team, Jeff Zients, said that foreign nationals will have to show proof of vaccination and proof of a negative COVID test taken three days prior to boarding an airplane. The administration is targeting November to introduce the new policy.
Zients said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will determine which vaccines will be accepted.
“This new international travel system follows the science to keep Americans and international air travel safe,” Zients said. “By requiring foreign nationals to be fully vaccinated in order to fly to the United States and in implementing additional strict safety protocols, we will protect Americans here at home and enhance the safety of international travel.”
“This is based on individuals rather than a country-based approach,” he added.
The travel ban in the United States has been in force since March 2020. It was applied to citizens of the European Union countries, as well as citizens of Ukraine. The only exceptions were those passengers of national interest to the United States. They received individual permission to enter the U.S. through EU airports.
The White House decision answers a growing EU grievance — that it had opened its skies to non-essential U.S. travelers, but that Washington wasn't reciprocating for Europeans.
"Travel ban lifted!" tweeted EU Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis. “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.”
Zients said in the coming days, the CDC will issue a contact tracing order that will require airlines to collect information from U.S.-bound travelers, including their phone number and email address to act as a “public health surveillance system.” That will give the CDC, state and local health officials the ability to follow up with travelers if they have potentially been exposed to COVID or other diseases.