The Biden administration is developing a plan to force almost all foreign visitors to the United States to be vaccinated, a White House official confirmed to Citizen Free Press on Wednesday, although some exceptions are expected.
Officials are still in the early stages of developing the plan and an announcement is not imminent. There is no imminent change in current travel restrictions due to the highly contagious delta variant currently circulating around the world, an official warned.
But officials from multiple agencies across the federal government have been constantly evaluating current travel restrictions and are developing a plan to lift them when the time finally comes.
According to the White House official, this includes requiring that all foreign nationals traveling to the US from any country be fully vaccinated, with limited exceptions, although a final plan has not been determined.
Reuters first reported on the plan.
Last month, the White House faced heavy pressure from the travel industry and U.S. allies to lift restrictions on who can travel to the country. But eventually, the Biden administration decided to keep existing travel restrictions in place.
Several officials said the administration came close to lifting some travel restrictions to the US earlier this year, but changed course after the delta variant took hold in the country.
The delta variant now accounts for more than 90% of the coronavirus circulating in the US, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Tourism from abroad has essentially stopped under US covid-19 travel rules.The restrictions also prohibit migrants from seeking asylum and prevent foreigners from visiting family members in the United States.
The Biden administration recently extended non-essential travel restrictions for the northern and southern borders until August 21, despite Canadian authorities saying that fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents currently residing in the United States will be allowed to enter. to Canada starting August 9.
The United States has been limiting non-essential travel along both borders since the onset of the pandemic and extending those restrictions on a monthly basis.
More of Europe has opened up to American travelers. And about three weeks ago, Biden said that answers on easing restrictions in Europe would come in “the next few days”. But the ban remains in place and officials have suspended any changes due to the spread of the delta variant.
The travel restrictions were implemented in March 2020, when many countries were closing their borders to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The restrictions included the UK and the “Schengen” group of 26 mostly European Union countries that lie within an area stretching from Iceland to Greece.
The administration launched inter-agency working groups with the EU, Britain, Canada and Mexico to examine how and when travel restrictions will be lifted.
The groups are overseen by the White House covid-19 response team and the National Security Council, and include representatives from the CDC along with officials from the Departments of State, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Transportation.