Vaccinated international travelers are welcome back to U.S. airports
DORAL, FL – Vaccinated international travelers from 33 countries that haven’t been able to enter the United States for more than a year and a half, are now allowed to visit the country effective on Monday.
Now, visitors from the U.K., much of Europe, China, Brazil, India and South Africa can arrive at national airports with proof of full COVID-19 vaccination.
This marks the end of a pandemic travel ban that was first established by former President Donald Trump in early 2020 and extended by President Joe Biden early this year.
But vaccinated international travelers must follow strict regulations in order to arrive in American land. First, those who are vaccinated with a two-dose vaccine must have taken the second one two weeks prior to departure.
Proof of vaccination regime can be shown as a paper certificate, a photo of the document or a digitized version to be reviewed by airline personnel.
The vaccines accepted will be those approved by the FDA and those listed for use by the World Health Organization which are Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
Travelers under age 18 and passengers from countries with low vaccination availability, such as much of Africa as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq and Armenia, are exempted from the travel ban lift.
U.S. citizens are not required to show proof of vaccination but they still need to show proof of a COVID-19 negative test taken within one day.
The reopening of airports for international travelers will represent a boost to the tourism industry, especially for airlines that have said bookings have surged since the Biden administration announced it would lift the restrictions.
Virgin Atlantic said its U.S. flights today are 98% full, which was the same case for British Airways that reported a full flight as well.
Also, shares of United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines were each up more than 1% in morning trading.
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