The news
International passengers traveling to the United States not need to point out proof of Covid vaccination as of midnight Thursday, when the coronavirus health emergency officially ended.
The Biden administration dropped the coronavirus testing requirement last June, but maintained a vaccination policy for foreign travelers. In February, the House of Representatives voted to lift the last remaining restrictions related to the May 11 pandemic.
“As we proceed to watch the evolving state of Covid-19 and the emergence of variants of the virus, we’ve the tools to detect and reply to the potential emergence of a variant with severe consequences,” President Biden said. within the proclamation published May 1.
“Given the progress we’ve made and the newest guidance from our public health experts, I actually have concluded that we not need the international air travel restrictions I imposed in October 2021.” – added.
Why it matters: Most other countries have lifted restrictions.
For 18 months at the peak of the pandemic, the United States closed its borders to international travellers, separating families and costing the worldwide travel industry billions of dollars.
In November 2021, these restrictions were eased and international travelers were welcomed back to the United States with great fanfare. But foreign travelers still needed to be vaccinated and tested for the coronavirus inside three days before traveling to all US ports of entry. When the administration dropped the testing rule last June but kept vaccination, it argued that vaccinations were still mandatory to slow the spread of recent variants of the virus entering the country.
Since last summer, the United States has been considered one of the few remaining countries to keep up travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, causing many travelers to decide on alternative destinations that accept them unconditionally.
The rules prevented world no 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic from participating within the 2022 US Open because he shouldn’t be vaccinated.
Background: Spending by foreign tourists within the US stays low.
According to the US Travel Association, an industry group, the initial US ban on international travel decimated the US economy’s tourism sector and resulted in nearly $300 billion in visitor spending and over 1,000,000 US jobs.
Until last April, all passengers traveling to or inside the United States were required to wear masks on planes – a contentious mandate that has led to fights and altercations on planes and has discouraged some international travelers from long-haul flights.
Even after easing restrictions, spending by international travelers within the US fell 78 percent in March 2022 in comparison with 2019 levels, the group said.
“Today’s motion to lift the vaccination requirement reduces a big barrier to entry for a lot of global travelers, moving our industry and country forward,” Geoff Freeman, the association’s CEO, said in a press release after announcing the May 11 end date.
