The Biden administration recently announced that international travelers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to enter the U.S. after months of travel restrictions.
Starting on Nov. 8, foreigners flying into the U.S. will need to provide proof of full vaccination as well as a negative COVID-19 test taken within 3 days of departure.
The new air travel system will replace the travel bans placed on dozens of countries nearly two years ago to curb the spread of the virus.
"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 United States," President Joe Biden said in a proclamation.
What vaccinations are accepted?
Any vaccine approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be accepted. These include:
- Pfizer-BioNTech
- Moderna
- Johnson & Johnson
- Oxford-AstraZeneca/Covishield
- Sinovac
- Sinopharm
Children under 18 are exempt, although they will still need to show proof of a negative COVID test. Travelers who object to the vaccination based on religious or moral convictions will not be exempt.
Unvaccinated American citizens and green card holders returning home will need to submit proof of a negative test taken within 24 hours of departure and test again once back.
Airlines will also collect phone numbers and email addresses from U.S.-bound passengers for contract tracing.
