The US is opening up its borders to fully vaccinated visitors after 20 months of restrictions.
The country will follow the guidelines mapped out by its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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The authorities will check if the passenger’s name and date of birth match the data on the proof of vaccination.
They will check if the record was issued by an official source (e.g. public health agency, government agency) in the country of vaccination.
Review of other data part of CDC’s definition for fully vaccinated including:
- Vaccine product
- Number of doses received
- Date(s) of administration
- Site of administration eg. vaccination clinic, hospital
Do note that the second of a two-dose vaccine must have been completed two weeks prior to departure excluding the date of administration.
Paper and digital documentation and vaccine cards need not be in English.
Testing
Air travellers ages 2 and up need a negative COVID-19 test, even if fully vaccinated regardless of nationality.
They must test negative within three days of their flight’s departure for the States.
Both rapid antigen and PCR test results will be accepted.
The country will continue monitoring travelers’ vaccination status and will require airlines to set up a contact tracing system.
In case of an outbreak, contact information such as e-mail, phone number and address can be obtained from airlines.
Unvaccinated Exemptions
The following unvaccinated people will have to undergo testing within one day of departure:
Children under 18 travelling with vaccinated adults are exempt from the vaccination requirement.
Approved Vaccines
Passengers arriving by air will have to be inoculated by vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.
These include AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Covaxin, Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.
WHO finally granted emergency use listing (EUL) for the Bharat Biotech-developed Covaxin.
The CDC followed suit.
Covaxin is also recognised by Australia, Oman, Philippines, Mexico, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Greece, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, State of Palestine, Mauritius and Mongolia.
Phases Of Reopening
The reopening of the States’ borders will take place in two phases.
From Monday, those traveling for “non-essential” trips — such as family visits or tourism will have to be vaccinated.
Unvaccinated travelers will be allowed entry for “essential” trips.
The second phase will start January from which all visitors have to be fully vaccinated to enter by land regardless of travel reason.
The guidelines as mapped out by the CDC can be accessed here.
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