U.S. Will Exchange Air Journey Bans With Vaccine Necessities for Worldwide Guests

The central theses

• The US will replace international flight bans with vaccination requirements from November, but land borders will remain closed.
• The requirements do not apply to U.S. residents returning home from overseas who may instead have a negative COVID-19 test result.
• Experts say the domestic travel bans made no difference in the pandemic.

The White House announced on Monday that it would lift air travel restrictions on foreign travelers who are fully vaccinated and tested negative for COVID-19 as of November.

The new rules will end the 18-month travel ban for 33 countries, including the UK, Schengen countries in Europe, China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

U.S. citizens returning home from overseas are not required to provide proof of vaccination. However, you will need to show a negative COVID-19 test within the day of your flight home and do another test when you return. It is unclear whether green card holders will be asked to comply with the foreigner or citizen requirements.

“The virus is on both sides of the fence so I don’t know why you have a fence.” Amesh Adalja, MD, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, says Verywell. “We have great technology that can minimize the effects of travel – tests, vaccines – we know how to diagnose” [COVID and] we know how to look for it. ”

What that means for you

If you are flying home from overseas in November as a US citizen, you must have a negative COVID-19 test within one day of your departure. If you are entering the United States from abroad, you will need to provide a vaccination certificate.

There is no information on when the land borders will reopen to foreign visitors. The current ban applies until October 21.

Adalja says there is “no reason” to keep the land borders closed when air traffic is reopened. “There is enough COVID in this country that it doesn’t come from people across borders.”

He adds that he is skeptical of pandemic travel bans, as they are often used as an excuse for maintaining political agendas rather than public health regulations.

“We are restricting travel from other countries that in some cases have far fewer viruses than we do and higher vaccination rates than we do.” Leana Wen, MD, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University, says Verywell.

Some experts say the reopening of the air borders is a step in the right direction, but criticize the government’s decision to impose travel bans in the first place.

She says she is glad the Biden government is making this change and that authorities should go further to require vaccinations for domestic travelers as well.

Health officials have yet to decide whether the US will accept all vaccines recognized by the World Health Organization or only those approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Monitoring the types of vaccines in addition to showing a vaccination certificate could be difficult and potentially unnecessary, says Adalja. Making a decision based on whether the vaccines will work in other countries is better than relying on their US regulatory status, he added. For example, the AstraZeneca vaccine, although not approved in the US, has achieved success in Canada and the UK.

Cross-agency talks will be held this fall to resolve unanswered questions, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, a press conference.

Airlines are also required to keep contact tracing for all passengers on arriving international flights and report this information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This should be a relatively straightforward process as the airlines have people’s contact information when booking the flight, Adalja says.

Willie Walsh, director of the International Air Transport Association, welcomed the decision to lift travel restrictions.

“This is excellent news for families and loved ones who have suffered the grief and loneliness of separation,” he said in a Press release. “That’s good for millions of people in the US who depend on global tourism. And it will fuel economic recovery by opening up some major business travel markets. ”

Walsh also urged governments to speed up vaccine adoption around the world and focus resources on unvaccinated travelers. “We need to go back to a situation where freedom of travel is available to all,” he said.

The information in this article is current as of the date indicated, which means more recent information may be available by the time you read this. For the latest updates on COVID-19, visit our Coronavirus news page.