The Biden administration is putting in place a plan to require that all foreign travelers entering the United States be fully vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus, according to a White House official.
White House interagency working groups are working “to have a new system ready for when we can reopen travel,” the official told Reuters, adding it would be “a phased approach that over time will mean, with limited exceptions, that foreign nationals traveling to the United States (from all countries) need to be fully vaccinated.”
The U.S. issued numerous travel restrictions, starting in January 2020, to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Countries currently on the banned list are the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen countries in Europe, Ireland, India, South Africa, China, Brazil and Iran. Non-U.S. citizens who were in these countries within the last 14 days are barred from entering the United States.
Other countries, including Canada and EU nations, are starting to relax their restrictions on American travelers,
The official didn’t say when U.S. travel restrictions would be lifted, adding that “the United States will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point” since infections “appear likely to continue to increase in the weeks ahead.”
For more information about vaccines, read our article about getting the COVID-19 vaccine as an immigrant and a list of mandatory vaccines for U.S. immigrants.