US president Joe Biden signed an order imposing new vaccine requirements for most foreign national air travellers and lifting severe travel restrictions on China, India and much of Europe.
The extraordinary U.S. travel restrictions were first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of COVID-19. "It is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions," Biden's proclamation says.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued on Monday new contact tracing rules requiring airlines to collect information from international air passengers like phone numbers, emails and addresses.
The TSA will issue a security directive that provides the legal basis for airlines implementing the vaccine requirements.
The CDC said this month it would accept any vaccine authorized for use by U.S. regulators or the World Health Organization.
International air travellers will need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days prior to departure.
There are no religious exemptions for international travellers seeking to avoid the requirements.
Disclaimer: Comments and opinions on any part of this website are the opinions of blog commenters or anonymous individuals, and do not reflect Strenuous Blog position.