US to allow only fully vaccinated travellers from 8 November onwards

Most adult travellers wishing to visit the United States must be completely vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 8th. All visitors older than two years, regardless of vaccination status, must also present a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of the trip, according to an order signed by US President Joe Biden on Monday. Airlines have to collect contact information about passengers to help with contact tracing and store it for 30 days. Children and teenagers under 18 years of age will be exempt from the vaccination rules. The new policy comes as the Biden government moves away from restrictions that ban travel from many countries - including most of Europe, China, Brazil, South Africa, India and Iran - to adhere to the classification of Focus on individuals at risk. "It is in the interest of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions that were previously applied during the COVID-19 pandemic and to adopt an air travel policy that relies mainly on vaccination to promote the safe recovery of international air travel," said Biden. Under the new travel policy, vaccinated individuals entering the United States must show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test within three days of travel, while non-vaccinated individuals must present a test within one day of the trip. All children over the age of two who enter the country must pass a COVID-19 test. Non-tourist travellers from about 50 countries with national vaccination rates of less than 10% will also be eligible for the exemption from vaccination rules. People who get this exemption generally need to be vaccinated if they want to stay in the US for more than 60 days. Exemptions -Others who are exempt from the vaccine requirement include those who participated in COVID-19 clinical trials and those who have had critical allergic reactions to the vaccines. International travellers must provide vaccination documentation from an "official source", and airlines must confirm that the last dose was taken at least two weeks before the date of travel. Only FDA approved vaccines accepted The United States will accept all vaccines approved for regular or emergency consumption by the FDA or the World Health Organization. It includes Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and China's Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. Mix-and-match of well-aimed shots is allowed. Quarantine officers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will spot passengers arriving in the US for compliance; a Biden administration official told the Associated Press news agency. Airlines that do not comply with the limitations may face penalties of almost $35,000 per violation.

US to allow only fully vaccinated travellers from 8 November onwards

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