The facts on international pandemic travel guidance from the U.S.

The White House has updated more stringent  international travel guidance aimed at both American and foreign nationals hoping to smoothly transition into new policies that take effect on November 8.  These policies carry over from the recently anounnced travel rules and  indicate that all travelers must supply proof of vaccination before boarding planes to enter the U.S..  The U.S. Department of State has included the requirements on its website at state.gov.   

Moving to   a new vaccination-based international travel system affects in-coming and outgoing travelers as well as airlines.  The guidance rolled out on Monday focuses on ensuring that travelers follow both safety protocols and science to avoid ballooning COVID-19 cases worldwide. 

 In a call rolling out the new policies, Senior  Administration Officals broke down the new implementation summarized as follows:

-The policy has been adjusted to require U.S. citizens to also be vaccinated and provide proof a day before they board a plane. 

-Fully vaccinated air passengers entering the United States internationally, regardless of citizenship, will continue to be required to show a pre-departure negative COVID test taken within three days of travel prior to boarding.
 
-For those vaccinated persons, they will be required to show proof of vaccination to qualify for this three-day testing window.
 

- For unvaccinated air passengers, including unvaccinated U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, the rules will now require a test within one day of departure to the United States.

The White House disclosed fullsome details listed in the following fact sheet :

• FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Releases Additional

  Detail for Implementing a Safer, More Stringent

  International Air Travel System

  As we continue to work to protect people from COVID-19, today, the Biden

  Administration is releasing additional detail around implementation of the new

  international air travel policy requiring foreign national travelers to the United States to

  be fully vaccinated. This updated policy puts in place an international travel system that

  is stringent, consistent across the globe, and guided by public health.

  Starting on November 8, non-citizen, non-immigrant air travelers to the United States

  will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination

  status prior to boarding an airplane to fly to the U.S., with only limited exceptions. The

  updated travel guidelines also include new protocols around testing. To further

  strengthen protections, unvaccinated travelers – whether U.S. Citizens, lawful

  permanent residents (LPRs), or the small number of excepted unvaccinated foreign

  nationals – will now need to test within one day of departure.

  Today, the Administration is releasing the following documents to implement these

  requirements: 1) a Presidential Proclamation to Advance the Safe Resumption of Global

  Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic; 2) three Centers for Disease Control and

  Prevention (CDC) Orders on vaccination, testing, and contact tracing; and 3) technical

  instructions to provide implementation details to the airlines and their passengers.

  With science and public health as our guide, the United States has developed a new

  international air travel system that both enhances the safety of Americans here at home

  and enhances the safety of international air travel. The additional detail released today

  provides airlines and international air travelers with time to prepare for this new policy

  ahead of the November 8 implementation date. As previously announced, fully

  vaccinated foreign nationals will also be able to travel across the Northern and

  Southwest land borders for non-essential reasons, such as tourism, starting on

  November 8. Additional detail on amendments to restrictions with respect to land

  borders will be available in the coming days.

  Travelers can find full details about today’s air travel announcement on the CDC and

  Department of State websites. A summary is below:

  Fully Vaccinated Status:

  • Starting on November 8, non-citizen, non-immigrant air travelers to the United

  States will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination

  status prior to boarding an airplane to fly to the U.S.

  Proof of Vaccination:
• 

  • For foreign nationals, proof of vaccination will be required – with very limited

  exceptions – to board the plane.

  • Passengers will need to show their vaccination status, and the airlines will need

  to:

  o Match the name and date of birth to confirm the passenger is the same

  person reflected on the proof of vaccination;

  o Determine that the record was issued by an official source (e.g., public

  health agency, government agency) in the country where the vaccine was

  given;

  o Review the essential information for determining if the passenger meets

  CDC's definition for fully vaccinated such as vaccine product, number of

  vaccine doses received, date(s) of administration, site (e.g., vaccination

  clinic, health care facility) of vaccination.

  • The Biden Administration will work closely with the airlines to ensure that these

  new requirements are implemented successfully.

  Accepted Vaccines:

  • CDC has determined that for purposes of travel to the United States, vaccines

  accepted will include FDA approved or authorized and World Health

  Organization (WHO) emergency use listed (EUL) vaccines.

  • Individuals can be considered fully vaccinated ≥2 weeks after receipt of the last

  dose if they have received any single dose of an FDA approved/authorized or

  WHO EUL approved single-dose series (i.e., Janssen), or any combination of two

  doses of an FDA approved/authorized or WHO emergency use listed COVID-19

  two-dose series (i.e. mixing and matching).

  • More details are available in the CDC Annex here.

  Enhanced Testing:

  • Previously, all travelers were required to produce a negative viral test result

  within three days of travel to the United States.

  • Both nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), such as a PCR test, and antigen

  tests qualify.

  • As announced in September, the new system tightens those requirements, so that

  unvaccinated U.S. Citizens and LPRs will need to provide a negative test taken

  within one day of traveling.

  • That means that all fully vaccinated U.S. Citizens and LPRs traveling to the

  United States should be prepared to present documentation of their vaccination

  status alongside their negative test result.

  • For those Americans who can show they are fully vaccinated, the same

  requirement currently in place will apply – they have to produce a negative test

  result within three days of travel.

  • For anyone traveling to the United States who cannot demonstrate proof of full

  vaccination, they will have to produce documentation of a negative test within

  one day of departure.
• Requirements for Children:

  • Children under 18 are excepted from the vaccination requirement for foreign

  national travelers, given both the ineligibility of some younger children for

  vaccination, as well as the global variability in access to vaccination for older

  children who are eligible to be vaccinated.

  • Children between the ages of 2 and 17 are required to take a pre-departure test.

  • If traveling with a fully vaccinated adult, an unvaccinated child can test three

  days prior to departure (consistent with the timeline for fully vaccinated adults).

  If an unvaccinated child is traveling alone or with unvaccinated adults, they will

  have to test within one day of departure.

  Limited Exceptions from the Vaccination Requirement:

  • There are a very limited set of exceptions from the vaccination requirement for

  foreign nationals. These include exceptions for children under 18, certain COVID-

  19 vaccine clinical trial participants, those with medical contraindications to the

  vaccines, those who need to travel for emergency or humanitarian reasons (with a

  US government-issued letter affirming the urgent need to travel), those who are

  traveling on non-tourist visas from countries with low-vaccine availability (as

  determined by the CDC), and other very narrow categories.

  • Those who receive an exception will generally be required to attest they will

  comply with applicable public health requirements, including, with very limited

  exceptions, a requirement that they be vaccinated in the U.S. if they intend to stay

  here for more than 60 days.

  Contact Tracing:

  • The CDC is also issuing a Contact Tracing Order that requires all airlines flying

  into the United States to keep on hand – and promptly turn over to the CDC,

  when needed – contact information that will allow public health officials to follow

  up with inbound air travelers who are potentially infected or have been exposed

  to someone who is infected.

  • This is a critical public health measure both to prevent the introduction,

  transmission, and spread of new variants of COVID-19 as well as to add a critical

  prevention tool to address other public health threats.
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