Children to be exempt from US Covid-19 travel rules
- Starting November 8, foreign air travellers to the US will be required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19
- It ends a more than 18-month suspension of travel from much of the globe, including close allies
Children under 18 and people from dozens of countries with a shortage of vaccines will be exempt from new rules that will require most travellers to the United States be vaccinated against Covid-19, the Biden administration announced.
The US government said Monday it will require airlines to collect contact information on passengers regardless of whether they have been vaccinated to help with contact tracing, if that becomes necessary.
Beginning November 8, foreign, non-immigrant adults travelling to the United States will need to be fully vaccinated, with only limited exceptions, and all travellers will need to be tested for the virus before boarding a plane to the US. There will be tightened restrictions for American and foreign citizens who are not fully vaccinated.
The new policy comes as the Biden administration moves away from restrictions that ban non-essential travel from several dozen countries – most of Europe, China, Brazil, South Africa, India and Iran – and instead focuses on classifying individuals by the risk they pose to others.
It also reflects the White House’s embrace of vaccination requirements as a tool to push more Americans to get the shots by making it inconvenient to remain unvaccinated.
Under the policy, those who are vaccinated will need to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test within three days of travel, while the unvaccinated must present a test taken within one day of travel.