US travel bans on countries including China do not make sense, says former FDA chief
- President Joe Biden announced a new travel ban on visitors from India and a continuation of the bans on China and the UK
- The European Union is set to open its doors this summer to American tourists who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19
The travel bans imposed by the US on countries including India, China and the UK lack a clear sense of purpose and do not make sense, said former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
“I’m not sure what we are hoping to accomplish. If the goal is to try to prevent the introduction of virus into the US, there’s plenty of virus here,” Gottlieb said on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday.
Responding to the US ban on most travel from India, scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday, he said, “If the goal is to try to prevent the introduction of a new variant 617 that’s circling India, I assure you it’s here already.”
“These travel restrictions could serve a purpose but we need to be clear about what that purpose is,” Gottlieb added. “Right now we still have restrictions in place against travel from China and the UK that doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Coronavirus variants “aren’t just cropping up in one market and migrating around the world. They’re cropping up simultaneously in every market,” he said.