WASHINGTON, DC — International travelers finally have a firm date on when they can enter the United States: November 8. “The new U.S. travel policy requiring vaccinations for international travelers to the United States will go into effect on November 8,” White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter. “This announcement and date applies to both international air and land travel. This policy is guided by public health, strict and consistent.”
All international air travelers will be required to provide proof of full vaccination and a negative Covid test taken within three days of travel. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it will accept proof of six different Covid-19 vaccines to enter the country: Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca/Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
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This news follows the announcement by the US Department of Homeland Security that the Canadian and Mexican borders can also reopen to land and sea arrivals to fully vaccinated travellers; no Covid test is required.
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Both measures have been enthusiastically welcomed by business travelers and the entire trade show industry, from convention centers to hotels to the many companies, large and small, that support them. Since early 2020, a travel ban has prevented visitors from dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom and European Union member states, as well as China and Brazil, from entering the United States.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow, who has been urging the Biden administration for months to open the border to all international visitors, welcomed the decision to extend the opening to land and sea arrivals from Mexico and Canada, calling it “overdue.”
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“This action will provide a major boost to the U.S. economy, travel businesses and destinations across America,” Dow said in a written statement. “The decline in international visitors since the start of the pandemic has resulted in the loss of more than 1 million U.S. jobs. The closure of the Canadian and Mexican land borders alone has cost the U.S. economy nearly $700 million per month.”
Contact Roger Dow at (202) 408-8422 or [email protected]