Provided that vaccination is proven, the United States reopens its borders today, after 20 months of closure
The United States on Monday reopened its land and air borders to vaccinated foreign travelers, 20 months after closing those borders and imposing travel restrictions.
Airlines are preparing to receive again Monday vaccinated travelers from 33 countries who have been allowed to return to the United States.
For travelers arriving by air, the United States will require, as of November 8, in addition to proof of vaccination and a corona screening test three days before departure, that airlines establish a contact tracing system.
As for the arrivals by land, the White House announced this week that the lifting of restrictions will take place in two stages, and as of November 8, those coming for reasons considered unnecessary will be able to cross the borders of Canada or Mexico, for example those related to family or tourism, provided they receive the vaccine.
Those arriving for reasons deemed necessary, such as truck drivers, are exempted.
But from January, the mandatory vaccination will apply to all visitors crossing the land border, whatever their reason for entry.
On the other hand, the US health authorities indicated that all vaccines approved by the World Health Organization will be accepted, and they are, so far, according to the emergency procedure established by the Health Organization, “AstraZeneca”, “Johnson & Johnson”, “Moderna” and “Pfizer” Biontec, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
In the face of the epidemic, the United States closed its borders as of March 2020, except for cases where the reasons are compelling, to millions of travelers coming, especially from the European Union, Britain and China, and later India and Brazil, and also closed land entry points to visitors from Canada and Mexico.
These months of restrictions affected hundreds of millions of people, and the long retention of restrictions caused diplomatic tension, especially since last summer, when the European Union, which was witnessing an acceleration in vaccination operations, opened its borders to the United States and American tourists, even those who were not vaccinated.
The United States, which has been very strict in closing its borders, did not impose mandatory vaccinations on passengers on domestic flights.
Even the Biden administration, which recently acquiesced in some binding measures, has not made changes due to the political sensitivity of the issue.
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