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US reopened on 8 November 2021 (& subsequent entry restrictions for non-citizens)

Old Sep 15, 2021, 1:47 pm
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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:
  • AstraZeneca
  • BIBP/Sinopharm
  • Covishield
  • Janssen/J&J
  • Moderna
  • Pfizer-BioNTech
  • Sinovac
Vaccination certificates must come from an official source
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 CDCs 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


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US reopened on 8 November 2021 (& subsequent entry restrictions for non-citizens)

 
Old Sep 25, 2021, 2:24 pm
  #2416  
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Originally Posted by gojko88
As has been discussed in this thread already, Lufthansa have been openly stating "from 1st November" on their homepage for days now. They are the unlikeliest airline in the world to relay data that hasn't been explicitly confirmed to them by the US authorities. Hence my certainty.
I would love that to be true but youre basing your certainty on extremely flimsy evidence.
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Old Sep 25, 2021, 5:37 pm
  #2417  
 
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Originally Posted by gojko88
As has been discussed in this thread already, Lufthansa have been openly stating "from 1st November" on their homepage for days now. They are the unlikeliest airline in the world to relay data that hasn't been explicitly confirmed to them by the US authorities. Hence my certainty.
Lufthansa has changed.

When the news broke, Lufthansa claimed that it was from the 1st of November. The Lufthansa group was the only source which operated with that date. They have since changed. Right now, Lufthansa only says "starting in November 2021."

https://www.lufthansagroup.com/en/ne...-november.html
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 2:23 am
  #2418  
 
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I would bet a pretty hefty sum on the start date being either the 1st or 8th of November. They were very specific with the use of the word "early". If they didnt have a clear plan and timing in mind there is no way they would have used that phrasing.
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 6:23 am
  #2419  
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There is over a month for the additional opening standards to be set. Regardless of which date the additional opening goes live, they will need to come up with the standards for the additional opening to foreigners. There are only so many ways to cut a diamond without ruining it, regardless of when the diamond is to be delivered as cut and polished. Much the same with the additional opening standards.
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 10:41 am
  #2420  
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Originally Posted by invisible
Any word about Sinopharm/Sinovac and AZ made in India?
I would be surprised if US authorities sign off on the Sputnik (Russian) or Chicom aka Sinovac. Their science and testing programs have zero street cred in USA.

But impossible to predict, we just saw a small thaw with China
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 2:01 pm
  #2421  
 
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
There is over a month for the additional opening standards to be set. Regardless of which date the additional opening goes live, they will need to come up with the standards for the additional opening to foreigners. There are only so many ways to cut a diamond without ruining it, regardless of when the diamond is to be delivered as cut and polished. Much the same with the additional opening standards.
In this case are they cutting a diamond or polishing a turd?

Originally Posted by Boraxo
I would be surprised if US authorities sign off on the Sputnik (Russian) or Chicom aka Sinovac. Their science and testing programs have zero street cred in USA.

But impossible to predict, we just saw a small thaw with China…
According to this WaPo article FWIW, Sinovac will be allowed (as it's on the WHO list) but Sputnik and, at the moment Covaxin, won't be.

Washington Post: New U.S. travel rules close door on those fully vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V

The new U.S. plan requires that most noncitizens seeking entry to the United States are vaccinated with shots approved for emergency use either by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization. That includes vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, as well as shots developed by Chinese firms such as Sinopharm and Sinovac...But Sputnik V, an adenovirus vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, has yet to be approved by the WHO. The global health agency this week said that it suspended its review process of the vaccine, citing concerns over the manufacturing practices at production plants inside Russia and whether the vaccine can be consistently produced to the necessary standard.
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 2:16 pm
  #2422  
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Originally Posted by 84fiero
In this case are they cutting a diamond or polishing a turd?



According to this WaPo article FWIW, Sinovac will be allowed (as it's on the WHO list) but Sputnik and, at the moment Covaxin, won't be.

Washington Post: New U.S. travel rules close door on those fully vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V
One side’s sewage can be another side’s treasure. Turd contributions to the sewage system in parts are a treasured way to measure what’s going on with Covid-19 spread. . Fortunately for some, it’s almost certain that the USG won’t be using US sewage system-based measurements of Covid-19 to determine when to additionally open to foreign visitors and when to close to foreign visitors.
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 3:43 pm
  #2423  
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Do we have a start date yet?
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 4:10 pm
  #2424  
 
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US President Joe Biden and Americans over 65 as well as those with underlying health conditions are now eligible for a third jab of the Pfizer vaccine after US authorities had approved it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-58714138

Im playing by the rules now
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Old Sep 28, 2021, 12:12 am
  #2425  
 
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Originally Posted by golfmad
Do we have a start date yet?
Nothing official but SQ has announced the restart of some fifth-freedom routes (FRA-JFK and HKG-SFO) on November 2nd.

https://viewfromthewing.com/singapor...sco-hong-kong/
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Last edited by supine; Sep 28, 2021 at 1:07 am
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Old Sep 28, 2021, 3:02 am
  #2426  
 
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Well, Condor resumes FRA-JFK on Nov 11th.

So... I wouldn't rely too much on airline schedules. They all pick up US bound travel again at some point now.
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 2:42 am
  #2427  
 
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Earlier in this thread, I asked the question about how long after the second shot a person will be considered fully vaccinated for entry purposes. I realize that most of you don't read Swedish, but there was a recent study, which was reported by the government SVT channel, of 2,000 young and healthy health-care employees which showed that after three months, 50% of the antibodies produced by Pfizer's vaccine are gone, while 80% of the antibodies from Astra-Zeneca's vaccine have vanished. After seven months, there's an 85% reduction in Pfizer's antibodies. This corroborates the Israeli data. So, if the White House is really going to "follow the science," they need to set a time limit of a few months after the second shot.
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 3:09 am
  #2428  
 
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Originally Posted by RedChili
So, if the White House is really going to "follow the science," they need to set a time limit of a few months after the second shot.
Circulating antibodies are only one part of your immune response.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02532-4
But cellular immune responses are longer lasting and as Jennifer Gommerman, an immunologist at the University of Toronto in Canada, explains: Cellular immunity is whats going to protect you from disease. Memory B cells, which can rapidly deploy more antibodies in the event of re-exposure to the virus, tend to stick around, and so do T cells, which can attack already-infected cells. Both provide an added measure of protection should SARS-CoV-2 sneak past the bodys first line of defence.
But going into this is off-topic for this thread. Lets get back to waiting for some dates and details...
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 4:29 am
  #2429  
 
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Target date seems to be Nov 1

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel...er/5848058001/
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 4:52 am
  #2430  
 
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Originally Posted by Professor Yaffle
And the only sources for that date are the Austrian ambassador, and a Twitter user who had spoken to somebody from United Airlines, who presumes that 1 November is the date.
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