The new US travel rules exclude recipients of two popular vaccines
Source: Quartz
The new US travel rules exclude recipients of two popular vaccines
Courtney Vinopal
Tue, October 26, 2021, 6:25 PM·4 min read
US president Joe Biden’s administration announced on Monday (Oct. 25) new guidelines for foreign visitors entering the country. Starting Nov. 8 non-citizens traveling to the US must show proof of vaccination for covid-19, as well as a negative test taken within three days before departure. This new policy will open up travel to tourists from 33 different countries that were banned for the past year due to the covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, though, it will make travel more complicated for some: Only those vaccinated with doses approved by the Food and Drug Administration or World Health Organization will be allowed entry, for now.
This means that millions of people vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V, China’s CanSino, or any other covid-19 vaccine series not approved by these agencies will still be excluded. The WHO has approved seven covid-19 vaccines for emergency use.
Biden officials said children under the age of 18 are exempt from the vaccine travel requirement, as are people traveling on a non-tourist visa from countries with low vaccine availability. Travelers with certain medical contraindications to the vaccine may be exempt, as well as those who are participating in vaccine trials, or coming to the US for emergency or humanitarian reasons.
That narrow group of unvaccinated travelers coming to the US—as well as Americans who haven't yet received the jab—will have to be tested within one day before boarding a plane, and be subject to more stringent contact tracing.
Countries seeking to open their borders to more travelers have imposed a patchwork of new regulations in recent months that have drawn confusion and, at times, scrutiny for excluding certain travelers who are vaccinated for covid-19. The UK was sharply criticized for what some viewed as a racist policy when government officials said travelers who received Covishield, India's version of the AstraZeneca shot, would not be considered fully vaccinated under travel regulations announced in September. The criticism ultimately prompted the government to reverse course.
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