Biden Administration Will Rescind COVID-19 Regional Travel Bans and Instead Require Proof of Vaccination

The Biden administration will be easing travel restrictions on all fully vaccinated foreign nationals for air travel effective on November 8, 2021. The current requirement for everyone (U.S. Citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals) to show proof of a negative test taken within three (3) days of boarding a flight will remain in place for all fully vaccinated travelers.

As previously confirmed via the CDC, only vaccines that are approved or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration or listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization will be accepted for air travel. The accepted vaccines are as follows:

FDA Authorized/Approved: Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer-BioNTech
WHO Approved: Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca/Covishield, Sinopharm, and Sinovac.

Limited exceptions such as for children, COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial participants, and humanitarian exceptions for people traveling for an important reason and who lack access to vaccination in a timely manner may be available. Lastly, starting in early November 2021, all foreign nationals who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 will be allowed to travel for non-essential purposes from Canada and Mexico into the U.S. via land or ferry Port of Entries (those foreign nationals who are not fully vaccinated and seek entry to the U.S. via land or ferry Port of Entries must have an essential purpose). Beginning in early January 2022, all foreign nationals must be fully vaccinated – whether for essential or non-essential purposes - in order to enter the U.S. from Canada or Mexico via land or ferry Port of Entries (proof of a negative COVID-19 test will not be required).

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