Biden signs off on new vaccine rules for foreign air travellers

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden has signed an order imposing new vaccine requirements on most foreign national air travellers and lifting severe travel restrictions on China, India and much of Europe effective Nov 8, the White House said.

The extraordinary US travel restrictions were first imposed early last year to address the spread of Covid-19. The rules bar entry to 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.

"It is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions previously applied during the Covid-19 pandemic and to adopt an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the US," Mr Biden's proclamation says.

The White House confirmed that children under 18 are exempt from the new vaccine requirements as are people with some medical issues. Non-tourist travellers from nearly 50 countries with nationwide vaccination rates of less than 10 per cent will also be eligible for exemption from the rules. Those receiving an exemption will generally need to be vaccinated within 60 days after arriving in the US. Those countries include Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Armenia, Myanmar, Iraq, Nicaragua, Senegal, Uganda, Libya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Congo, Kenya, Yemen, Haiti, Chad and Madagascar.

The White House first disclosed on Sept 20 that it would remove restrictions in early November for fully vaccinated air travellers from 33 countries. "Families and friends can see each other again, tourists can visit our amazing landmarks. This policy will further boost economic recovery," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The Biden administration also detailed requirements that airlines must follow to confirm foreign travellers have been vaccinated before boarding US-bound flights.

One concern among US officials and airlines is making sure foreign travellers are aware of the new vaccine rules that will take effect in just two weeks. Unvaccinated Americans will also face stricter testing rules.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention issued on Monday new contact tracing rules requiring airlines to collect from international passengers information like phone numbers, e-mail and US addresses and retain the data for 30 days in case a follow-up is needed.

The Biden administration plans to issue details later this week of its parallel plans to lift restrictions to land border crossings on Nov 8 for vaccinated foreign nationals.

An administration official said on Monday that some other major vaccines "are going to be under review as the data on performance of those vaccines becomes available in a regulatory process".

The Transportation Security Administration will issue a security directive that provides the legal basis for airlines implementing the vaccine requirements.

REUTERS

• From Nov 8, foreign air travellers must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to fly to the US, with limited exceptions.

• Passengers will need to show an "official source" of vaccination status, and airlines must match the name and date of birth to confirm the passenger is the same person reflected on the proof of vaccination.

• The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will accept vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration or have World Health Organisation emergency-use listing.

• All travellers must produce a negative viral test result within three days prior to travel to the US. Unvaccinated US citizens and others getting exemptions must provide a negative test taken within one day before travelling.

• Children under 18 are exempt from the vaccination rule, but children aged two to 17 are required to take a pre-departure test.

•Exemptions include certain Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial participants, those with valid medical reasons for not getting vaccinated and those who need to travel for emergency or humanitarian reasons, but they will need a US government-issued letter affirming the urgent need to travel.

• There are no exceptions "for religious reasons or other moral convictions".

REUTERS