Sep 15, 21, 1:47 pm
Last edit by: NewbieRunner
New thread for discussing 1-day test requirements for travellers arriving in the US by air
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coronavirus-travel/2060730-us-require-air-travelers-provide-negative-test-within-1-day-departure.html
Entry ban from eight southern African countries starting on November 29, 2021
Most non-U.S. citizens who have been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique or Malaw within the prior 14 days will not be allowed into the United States.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/11/26/a-proclamation-on-suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-nonimmigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease-2019/
Entry ban by air to be lifted on November 8, 2021 - All travelers should refer to CDC for travel requirements.
3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue (US citizens/LPR not vaccinated will have to test no earlier than 1 day prior) Children under 2 years old do not need to test.
Children under 18 are exempt from vaccination requirement
Accepted vaccines will include:
There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old
Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases
Update on U.S. travel policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination
Last Updated: October 25, 2021
As announced by the White House today, the new travel policy requiring foreign nationals traveling to the United States to demonstrate proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 will take effect November 8. The CDC’s website explains that, for purposes of entry into the United States, the accepted vaccines will include FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines.
COVID-19 Travel Restrictions and Exceptions - U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
Last updated: October 25, 2021
The presidential proclamations described on this page will no longer be in effect on November 8, 2021. For additional information, please see Safely Resuming Travel by Vaccine Requirement and Rescission of Travel Restrictions on Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (travel.state.gov).
To protect the public health, there are four presidential proclamations that suspend entry into the United States of all noncitizens who were physically present in any of 33 countries during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. They are Presidential Proclamation 9984 (China); Presidential Proclamation 9992 (Iran); Presidential Proclamation 10143 (Schengen Area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, and South Africa); and Presidential Proclamation 10199 (India).
What we know so far is
- Confirmed to start on 8 November
- Children under 18 are exempt from the vaccine restrictions, so the varying international standards on jab ages won't be an issue here.
- Vaccines that are OK will include Pfizer, Moderna, AZ, J&J and the two Chinese vaccines.
- Some exemptions from vaccinations are potentially allowed, notably for US citizens, though my guess is airlines will be expecting to see vaccine certificates
- 3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue, so this needs to be a documented antigen/Lateral Flow test or PCR.
- 3 days is potentially more than 72 hours, departure on a Friday afternoon means a test on Tuesday morning or thereafter.
- NHS Lateral Flows and PCRs can't be used.
- Children over 2 years old travelling with vaccinated travellers have to be tested on the same basis (3 days).
- 1 day testing for unvaccinated USA legal residents (testing on or the day before departure), including their children.
- All passengers need to sign an attestment to confirm their negative test result and also a statement to confirm full vaccination status.
- Children who are not vaccinated do not need to get vaccinated but do need to get a "viral test" 3 to 5 days after arrival in the USA
- As a result there is a separate attestion question for unvaccinated children to confirm that the viral test is arranged.
- Vaccination certificates must come from an official source. The NHS COVID Pass app and EU DCC are specifically mentioned as acceptable.
- Vaccination is counted as two weeks from dose2, or 2 weeks after the sole dose in the case of J&J.
- Antibody certification is not a replacement for the need for vaccination, at least for non USA residents.
- 14 clear days need to elapse before travel. So if jabbed on 1 October then 15 October is when you are good to go.
- Booster vaccinations are not a factor here, they don't count towards or against the primary dose process.
- There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old.
- Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases.
- These restrictions do not apply at the land border.
Note that a lot of interpretation onus falls on airlines. For example there is no language requirement for vaccine certificates as far as the CDC is concerned, however you can imagine Air France may be hesitant in accepting a vaccine certificate issued in the Welsh language, to take one example.
CDC link
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2...el-System.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coronavirus-travel/2060730-us-require-air-travelers-provide-negative-test-within-1-day-departure.html
Entry ban from eight southern African countries starting on November 29, 2021
Most non-U.S. citizens who have been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique or Malaw within the prior 14 days will not be allowed into the United States.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/11/26/a-proclamation-on-suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-nonimmigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease-2019/
Entry ban by air to be lifted on November 8, 2021 - All travelers should refer to CDC for travel requirements.
3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue (US citizens/LPR not vaccinated will have to test no earlier than 1 day prior) Children under 2 years old do not need to test.
Children under 18 are exempt from vaccination requirement
Accepted vaccines will include:
- AstraZeneca
- BIBP/Sinopharm
- Covishield
- Janssen/J&J
- Moderna
- Pfizer-BioNTech
- Sinovac
There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old
Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases
Update on U.S. travel policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination
Last Updated: October 25, 2021
As announced by the White House today, the new travel policy requiring foreign nationals traveling to the United States to demonstrate proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 will take effect November 8. The CDC’s website explains that, for purposes of entry into the United States, the accepted vaccines will include FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines.
COVID-19 Travel Restrictions and Exceptions - U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
Last updated: October 25, 2021
The presidential proclamations described on this page will no longer be in effect on November 8, 2021. For additional information, please see Safely Resuming Travel by Vaccine Requirement and Rescission of Travel Restrictions on Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (travel.state.gov).
To protect the public health, there are four presidential proclamations that suspend entry into the United States of all noncitizens who were physically present in any of 33 countries during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. They are Presidential Proclamation 9984 (China); Presidential Proclamation 9992 (Iran); Presidential Proclamation 10143 (Schengen Area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, and South Africa); and Presidential Proclamation 10199 (India).
What we know so far is
- Confirmed to start on 8 November
- Children under 18 are exempt from the vaccine restrictions, so the varying international standards on jab ages won't be an issue here.
- Vaccines that are OK will include Pfizer, Moderna, AZ, J&J and the two Chinese vaccines.
- Some exemptions from vaccinations are potentially allowed, notably for US citizens, though my guess is airlines will be expecting to see vaccine certificates
- 3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue, so this needs to be a documented antigen/Lateral Flow test or PCR.
- 3 days is potentially more than 72 hours, departure on a Friday afternoon means a test on Tuesday morning or thereafter.
- NHS Lateral Flows and PCRs can't be used.
- Children over 2 years old travelling with vaccinated travellers have to be tested on the same basis (3 days).
- 1 day testing for unvaccinated USA legal residents (testing on or the day before departure), including their children.
- All passengers need to sign an attestment to confirm their negative test result and also a statement to confirm full vaccination status.
- Children who are not vaccinated do not need to get vaccinated but do need to get a "viral test" 3 to 5 days after arrival in the USA
- As a result there is a separate attestion question for unvaccinated children to confirm that the viral test is arranged.
- Vaccination certificates must come from an official source. The NHS COVID Pass app and EU DCC are specifically mentioned as acceptable.
- Vaccination is counted as two weeks from dose2, or 2 weeks after the sole dose in the case of J&J.
- Antibody certification is not a replacement for the need for vaccination, at least for non USA residents.
- 14 clear days need to elapse before travel. So if jabbed on 1 October then 15 October is when you are good to go.
- Booster vaccinations are not a factor here, they don't count towards or against the primary dose process.
- There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old.
- Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases.
- These restrictions do not apply at the land border.
Note that a lot of interpretation onus falls on airlines. For example there is no language requirement for vaccine certificates as far as the CDC is concerned, however you can imagine Air France may be hesitant in accepting a vaccine certificate issued in the Welsh language, to take one example.
CDC link
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2...el-System.html
US reopened on 8 November 2021 (& subsequent entry restrictions for non-citizens)
Jul 16, 21, 11:04 am
#1591
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: YEG
Programs: Table scraps from Aeroplan and AmEx Plat
Posts: 840
My home jurisdiction of Alberta, Canada lifted all restrictions over 2 weeks ago. We have not seen an increase of new cases yet, and the 7-day positivity rate is declining, currently at below 0.7%. I did see an article the other day that the R value has ticked up slightly, but still below 1. Delta accounts for about half of the variants of concern, so I think only a quarter of the current active cases.
I wonder if it is just a matter of time it takes over and infections explode. But it is possible that we fare better due to the fact that we started vaccinating the young, including children 12 and up very early on, relatively. Canada was the first major country to approve the use of Pfizer for ages 12+ on May 5, and Alberta made it widely available to those age groups a few short days later. Ages 12-34 are currently at 60-65%/35-45% first/second dose already, the latter climbing steadily. I am not sure how that compares with the countries in which Delta is raging, but from my understanding, older age groups were/are prioritized, whereas young people who appear to be driving the surge are largely unvaccinated. I just looked up Spain, and for ages 30 and below the percentages are several times lower than Canada's. Could this make a difference in outcomes?
All that said, it appears they are moving, albeit slowly. As someone mentioned above, they released some of the content from Trudeau's teleconference with the Provincial premiers. Fully-vaccinated Americans may be able to travel to Canada mid-August, and others in early September. But I wouldn't hold my breath. Canada's federal government appears to be most interested in poll numbers, and a clear majority of Canadians still want the borders closed. Until that attitude changes significantly, nothing will change materially.
It will be interesting to see what the US will announce next week. I suspect the mid-August thing that was disclosed by the Canadian government has been coordinated with the Americans. Whether they will reciprocate with Canada only, or Canada will be the beneficiary of a wider opening to Europe will be interesting. I suspect Canada's hand was forced by the Americans, so perhaps a reopening to Europe is in the cards for August.
Jul 16, 21, 1:32 pm
#1594
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Seat 1A
Programs: DL; AA; UA; CO; LHLX; NZ; QR; EK; BA
Posts: 7,247
I don't have any inside info or any better insight than most here, but one interesting nugget I caught from an interview with Delta (the airline, not variant 
) CEO Ed Bastian two days ago during the Q2 2021 earnings announcement was that the US Administration was focused on getting the US vaccination rates up further before opening travel back up to the banned countries. As to the illogical exclusion of the EU/Schengen area (now with similar infection rates as the US), I think it's just convenient that these countries are already banned so it's much easier to keep them that way while vaccination rates in the US are still not where they want them to be, rather than sift through a list of countries and decide that country A should now be on, or country B should be off, etc.
) CEO Ed Bastian two days ago during the Q2 2021 earnings announcement was that the US Administration was focused on getting the US vaccination rates up further before opening travel back up to the banned countries. As to the illogical exclusion of the EU/Schengen area (now with similar infection rates as the US), I think it's just convenient that these countries are already banned so it's much easier to keep them that way while vaccination rates in the US are still not where they want them to be, rather than sift through a list of countries and decide that country A should now be on, or country B should be off, etc.
Jul 16, 21, 1:55 pm
#1595
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 722
I should imagine that there is strong pressure from businesses in the USA and in the banned countries to permit travel by staff between offices. This will intensify as face to face meetings become more common - and the ban will become seen as something that really hinders business. I don't think that there will be much political pressure to reopen tourism. And there are not enough people with families split across continents (and who aren't otherwise exempt) to make a strong constituency. However, unlike the UK which likes to make detailed and extensive rules, and then not enforce them, the US tends to take a more pragmatic approach. If my analysis is correct, I should think that the US won't just exempt business travel (since how do you precisely define and enforce that?), but instead make the obstacles too high for casual tourists to overcome but not so high as to stop important business.
But, who knows? If it's on the political agenda, there will be a process and I'm confident that the process will result in a conclusion of, at least, some opening.
But, who knows? If it's on the political agenda, there will be a process and I'm confident that the process will result in a conclusion of, at least, some opening.
Jul 16, 21, 1:59 pm
#1596
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 722
I am about as gung ho as anyone about reopening, but the Delta variant is giving me some pause as well, even though infections do not seem to lead to commensurate increases in severe outcomes/deaths.
My home jurisdiction of Alberta, Canada lifted all restrictions over 2 weeks ago. We have not seen an increase of new cases yet, and the 7-day positivity rate is declining, currently at below 0.7%. I did see an article the other day that the R value has ticked up slightly, but still below 1. Delta accounts for about half of the variants of concern, so I think only a quarter of the current active cases.
I wonder if it is just a matter of time it takes over and infections explode. But it is possible that we fare better due to the fact that we started vaccinating the young, including children 12 and up very early on, relatively. Canada was the first major country to approve the use of Pfizer for ages 12+ on May 5, and Alberta made it widely available to those age groups a few short days later. Ages 12-34 are currently at 60-65%/35-45% first/second dose already, the latter climbing steadily. I am not sure how that compares with the countries in which Delta is raging, but from my understanding, older age groups were/are prioritized, whereas young people who appear to be driving the surge are largely unvaccinated. I just looked up Spain, and for ages 30 and below the percentages are several times lower than Canada's. Could this make a difference in outcomes?
Canada has been pretty bad in that regard. Can't say I envy the position of the people in charge but I can complain. First they were going to start reopening the borders when we got to 75/25% first/second dose, of adult population. Then it became of the "eligible", 12+ population. Then 75/75%. Then Trudeau started talking about 80% or above with 2 doses.
All that said, it appears they are moving, albeit slowly. As someone mentioned above, they released some of the content from Trudeau's teleconference with the Provincial premiers. Fully-vaccinated Americans may be able to travel to Canada mid-August, and others in early September. But I wouldn't hold my breath. Canada's federal government appears to be most interested in poll numbers, and a clear majority of Canadians still want the borders closed. Until that attitude changes significantly, nothing will change materially.
It will be interesting to see what the US will announce next week. I suspect the mid-August thing that was disclosed by the Canadian government has been coordinated with the Americans. Whether they will reciprocate with Canada only, or Canada will be the beneficiary of a wider opening to Europe will be interesting. I suspect Canada's hand was forced by the Americans, so perhaps a reopening to Europe is in the cards for August.
My home jurisdiction of Alberta, Canada lifted all restrictions over 2 weeks ago. We have not seen an increase of new cases yet, and the 7-day positivity rate is declining, currently at below 0.7%. I did see an article the other day that the R value has ticked up slightly, but still below 1. Delta accounts for about half of the variants of concern, so I think only a quarter of the current active cases.
I wonder if it is just a matter of time it takes over and infections explode. But it is possible that we fare better due to the fact that we started vaccinating the young, including children 12 and up very early on, relatively. Canada was the first major country to approve the use of Pfizer for ages 12+ on May 5, and Alberta made it widely available to those age groups a few short days later. Ages 12-34 are currently at 60-65%/35-45% first/second dose already, the latter climbing steadily. I am not sure how that compares with the countries in which Delta is raging, but from my understanding, older age groups were/are prioritized, whereas young people who appear to be driving the surge are largely unvaccinated. I just looked up Spain, and for ages 30 and below the percentages are several times lower than Canada's. Could this make a difference in outcomes?
Canada has been pretty bad in that regard. Can't say I envy the position of the people in charge but I can complain. First they were going to start reopening the borders when we got to 75/25% first/second dose, of adult population. Then it became of the "eligible", 12+ population. Then 75/75%. Then Trudeau started talking about 80% or above with 2 doses.
All that said, it appears they are moving, albeit slowly. As someone mentioned above, they released some of the content from Trudeau's teleconference with the Provincial premiers. Fully-vaccinated Americans may be able to travel to Canada mid-August, and others in early September. But I wouldn't hold my breath. Canada's federal government appears to be most interested in poll numbers, and a clear majority of Canadians still want the borders closed. Until that attitude changes significantly, nothing will change materially.
It will be interesting to see what the US will announce next week. I suspect the mid-August thing that was disclosed by the Canadian government has been coordinated with the Americans. Whether they will reciprocate with Canada only, or Canada will be the beneficiary of a wider opening to Europe will be interesting. I suspect Canada's hand was forced by the Americans, so perhaps a reopening to Europe is in the cards for August.
Alberta is a plain province with a very low population density.
Jul 16, 21, 6:27 pm
#1597
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
My question is this. Given a US-EU trust relationship, what is in the way of the US trusting the EU to check EU residents for a valid EU Digital COVID Certificate at departure? I mean, the airline is already responsible for any passenger being able to enter the destination country?
Exactly. I mean if they really want to go with the belt-and-suspenders strategy they could still require a test in addition initially.
Jul 18, 21, 8:02 am
#1598
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 101,027
Jeff Zients is viewed by the airlines’ government relations folk as being the person who is in charge of keeping the light as red or being the traffic light for when/if/how the US opens up to additional travel from Europe to the US.
Jul 18, 21, 10:38 am
#1599
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Milan, Italy
Programs: Skymiles
Posts: 271
Zients--> Political science degree--> Medical decisions--> CLOWNS
Jul 18, 21, 11:05 am
#1600
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: AS Gold 75K (OW), SK EB Silver (*A), UR, MR
Posts: 2,968
Not from what I see.
“Unlike most of the other people advising the new president on the virus, Zients has no scientific or medical background. Still, his friends say the former consultant, entrepreneur and even deli owner is the perfect choice to fix the mess left behind by the Trump administration.”
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation...ovid-19-crisis
“Unlike most of the other people advising the new president on the virus, Zients has no scientific or medical background. Still, his friends say the former consultant, entrepreneur and even deli owner is the perfect choice to fix the mess left behind by the Trump administration.”
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation...ovid-19-crisis
Jul 18, 21, 11:47 am
#1601
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: RBKC
Programs: AA EXP and Eurostar Carte Blanche
Posts: 3,725
“Unlike most of the other people advising the new president on the virus, Zients has no scientific or medical background. Still, his friends say the former consultant, entrepreneur and even deli owner is the perfect choice to fix the mess left behind by the Trump administration.”
Jul 18, 21, 12:48 pm
#1602
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1MM 1K, BA Gold
Posts: 417
This is a pretty good article on many angles:
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...bstacle-499908
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...bstacle-499908
Jul 18, 21, 3:05 pm
#1603
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 284
Trading stupidity and willful ignorance for blustering bureaucratic incompetency, either way both parties have shown they can't handle and don't deserve to be in charge of the executive branch. Very sad, these decisions do not need to be as complicated as both administrations have made it. I'd say they're constantly moving the goalposts, but they don't seem to know what goalposts are. There is clearly no criteria for how they ever intend to allow international travel to resume. Pathetic.
Jul 18, 21, 4:22 pm
#1604
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 101,027
Funny the mention of "no criteria". That's exactly one of the issues those articles too mention as being used to complain about the US response to those lobbying for a more rapid opening of the US to additional travel from the US. The counter to that complaint is that it's worse to open in a way that may not be as sustainable as to open sustainably.
Last I saw him in person in a professional capacity was coincidental to his involvement with the Advisory Board Company and with the Corporate Executive Board, so I can't say much about him since then. But then and before, it was obvious to me that not only was he a savvy guy, he was very much particularly plugged in with how things run around Washington -- which shouldn't be surprising since not only was he born in DC, his connection to St Albans speaks volumes by itself in that he too has had a head start with the ways of the capital. I have no reason to doubt his ability to collect information and have collected information evaluated for decision-making purposes even without having a doctorate in a natural sciences field. That he's not been eagerly running roughshod over the CDC may not make everyone happy, but his is not a role to make everyone happy when it comes to how and when to open up the US to additional travel from Europe.
Not from what I see.
“Unlike most of the other people advising the new president on the virus, Zients has no scientific or medical background. Still, his friends say the former consultant, entrepreneur and even deli owner is the perfect choice to fix the mess left behind by the Trump administration.”
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation...ovid-19-crisis
“Unlike most of the other people advising the new president on the virus, Zients has no scientific or medical background. Still, his friends say the former consultant, entrepreneur and even deli owner is the perfect choice to fix the mess left behind by the Trump administration.”
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation...ovid-19-crisis
Last edited by GUWonder; Jul 18, 21 at 4:31 pm
Jul 18, 21, 5:59 pm
#1605
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,253
And that's without even getting into the ridiculousness of a nation awash in life-saving vaccines that people in the rest of the world would give their right arm to have...and saying "no thank you." And why? Because their membership in a political death-cult demands it.
