US to lift ban on foreign travellers from ‘early November’ as long as they are vaccinated

Visitors will not be required to quarantine, but must present proof of inoculation

It was not immediately clear which vaccines would be acceptable under the programme, and whether those unapproved in the US could be used

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Tourists at a beach in Perdido Key, Florida. File photo: Reuters

Published: 10:59pm, 20 Sep 2021Updated: 1:26am, 21 Sep 2021

The United States in November will reopen to air travellers from China, India, Britain and many other European countries who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the White House said on Monday, rolling back tough pandemic-related travel restrictions imposed beginning early last year.

The decision, announced by White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients, marked an abrupt about-face for President Joe Biden’s administration, which last week said it was not the right time to lift any restrictions. The restrictions had prevented tens of thousands of foreign nationals from flying to the United States to see family members and slashed business travel.

The curbs on non-US citizens were first imposed on air travellers from China in January 2020 by then President Donald Trump and then extended to other countries in the following months, without any clear metrics for how and when to lift them.

The United States will admit fully vaccinated air travellers from the 26 so-called Schengen countries in Europe including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Greece, as well as Britain, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil. The existing policy had barred non-US citizens who had been in those countries within 14 days.

Travellers line up at Miami International Airport in August. Photo: AFP

Zients did not give a precise start date beyond saying “early November”.