US reopens borders after 20-month conditional travel ban – The HuffPost

Shannon Stapleton via Reuters

INTERNATIONAL – After twenty months of restrictions that were particularly badly experienced in Europe or among neighboring Mexico and Canada, United States reopen this Monday, November 8 their land and air borders only to travelers vaccinated, and provided that certain criteria are met.

To protect the countries most affected by the Covid-19, Donald Trump had imposed restrictions on travel from China in February 2020. Then on March 13, it was the turn of the European countries in the Schengen area. Great Britain and Ireland followed a few days later, while the land borders with Mexico and Canada were largely closed. Joe Biden then confirmed his measurements.

It was certainly possible to travel from the United States to Europe since last summer, but foreigners living on American soil and holding certain visas had no guarantee of being able to return home.

Travelers vaccinated (almost) only

Now, this is possible for nationals of more than thirty countries. But only for vaccinated travelers and respecting the following conditions.

• For travelers arriving by air, the United States will require, in addition to proof of vaccination and a negative test within three days before departure, the establishment by the airlines of a tracking system. contacts.

For the overland route, the restrictions will be lifted in two stages.

• From Monday, people coming for reasons deemed non-essential, for example family or tourism, will be able to cross the border of Canada or Mexico, provided they are vaccinated. People coming for compelling reasons – for example truck drivers – will be exempt.

• From January, the vaccination obligation will apply to all visitors crossing land borders, regardless of their reason for entry.

US health officials have indicated that all vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) will be accepted. For the moment, according to the WHO emergency procedure, these are the vaccines AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer / BioNTech, the Indian Covaxin, Sinopharm and Sinovac. These two Chinese vaccines will therefore make it possible to cross the borders of the United States.

See also on The HuffPost: Joe Biden mocked and criticized for dozing off at Cop26