Sep 15, 2021, 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)
May 22, 2021, 6:24 am
#301
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: AUS / GRK
Programs: AA, HHonors, Hertz
Posts: 13,484
For vaccinated people who have received vaccines for approved use in the USA. Those are 3:
* Pfizer
* Moderna
* Johnson & Johnson
It is yet to be determined how to handle those who received other vaccines, or those who have not received them within the timeframe recommended by the FDA (3-4 weeks between doses).
If you have received one of those 3 vaccines, and the doses were within the FDA recommended timeframes (J&J is single dose), then I see no issues with allowing you to enter the USA.
May 22, 2021, 7:22 am
#302
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,232
Bolding mine.
For vaccinated people who have received vaccines for approved use in the USA. Those are 3:
* Pfizer
* Moderna
* Johnson & Johnson
It is yet to be determined how to handle those who received other vaccines, or those who have not received them within the timeframe recommended by the FDA (3-4 weeks between doses).
If you have received one of those 3 vaccines, and the doses were within the FDA recommended timeframes (J&J is single dose), then I see no issues with allowing you to enter the USA.
For vaccinated people who have received vaccines for approved use in the USA. Those are 3:
* Pfizer
* Moderna
* Johnson & Johnson
It is yet to be determined how to handle those who received other vaccines, or those who have not received them within the timeframe recommended by the FDA (3-4 weeks between doses).
If you have received one of those 3 vaccines, and the doses were within the FDA recommended timeframes (J&J is single dose), then I see no issues with allowing you to enter the USA.
May 22, 2021, 7:48 am
#303
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Milan, Italy
Programs: Skymiles
Posts: 271
This is the real inconsistency of the actual Schengen UK travel ban...
May 22, 2021, 9:18 am
#304
Join Date: Oct 2019
Programs: OW Emerald / BAEC Gold
Posts: 470
completly agrees with the Sputnik etc non-approved vaccines
May 22, 2021, 9:20 am
#305
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 57
Especially for AZ the 12 week interval gives much better results. Possibly because the antibodies against the vektor aren't as pronounced after some time. Allowing the body to create more antibodies against the spike protein
May 22, 2021, 9:20 am
#306
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Rome, Italy
Programs: Delta, Lufthansa
Posts: 30
Exactly, DL77. I myself need to go to my Florida condo and will probably go through Aruba in June as Cancun numbers are on the increase. I am fully vaccinated.
May 22, 2021, 9:31 am
#307
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Milan, Italy
Programs: Skymiles
Posts: 271
I opted last summer to Aruba. Nice and friendly place. I still have to decide where to go, i’m furious for this waste of time and money...and we are fully vaccinated.😡
May 22, 2021, 11:57 am
#308
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2009
Programs: DL, UA, AA, VS
Posts: 5,226
It's been discussed elsewhere but there's also a notion of fairness. A 20 year olds probably won't be offered a full vaccine course until the end of the summer. They were locked down and followed the rules to shield the older generation, and because we're all in this together. If you remove restrictions now when they can't get vaccinated yet, then they won't be in this together the next time around.
(Sorry KARFA
)
(Sorry KARFA
)So some nebulous reason, because you will agree that testing vaccinated people is far less likely to catch cases.
May 22, 2021, 12:07 pm
#309
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: MA
Programs: DL DM/2MM Marriott Platinum, HH Diamond,
Posts: 8,906
I am a physician and have been involved in administering vaccines. Nothing in medicine is truly 100%, but the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines come damned close! The chance of a vaccinated person catching the virus from another vaccinated person most likely comes as close to zero and one can get in biology and medicine. The chance of an unvaccinated person getting the virus from a vaccinated individual who is one of the very rare breakthrough cases is extremely low, mainly because the overwhelming majority of the so-called breakthrough cases have such small viral loads.
May 22, 2021, 12:10 pm
#310
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: MA
Programs: DL DM/2MM Marriott Platinum, HH Diamond,
Posts: 8,906
Travel bans only make sense if your country is clear of the the virus. In the case of the USA, the UK or EU, there are still thousands of new cases a day, and in the USA at least, there is a test positivity rate of about 3%. So the virus is already here, the variants are already here... what is the purpose of a travel ban?
On a list of risks to the UK or the US, the arrival of a fully vaccinated traveler from overseas is very low on the hierarchy!
On a list of risks to the UK or the US, the arrival of a fully vaccinated traveler from overseas is very low on the hierarchy!
Last edited by RobertS975; May 22, 2021 at 12:23 pm
May 22, 2021, 5:27 pm
#311
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: AUS / GRK
Programs: AA, HHonors, Hertz
Posts: 13,484
While the USA had some large quantities of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, it has never been approved for use within the US. The US would need to assess the risk of allowing someone who has been vaccinated with that (or some of those other than the 3 approved for use in the USA), together with the recommended dosage timeframe, to make a determination of risk.
It sounds like most visitors to the US from other countries tend to visit the extremes:
* large cities and/or crowded places, such as New York, Disney World, etc.
* remote areas with limited medical facilities, even for locals who live there (the Grand Canyon, Moab, Four Corners, Yellowstone NP, etc all come to mind)
Both of those areas are high risk. If a new strain is brought into a crowded NYC subway and spreads it could be a disaster for the city, and would probably quickly spread around the country. Same is true for those remote areas. Last year there was an outbreak at Big Bend NP. Due to overcrowded hospitals in El Paso (which isn't really that near), they were airlifingt patients to San Antonio.
When I stopped in Moab last year, several business owners told me that foreign visitors make up much of their business; they stay longer and spend more money than American visitors.
I'm not really sure what the answer is, and I know that whatever happens there will be unhappy would-be travelers.
May 22, 2021, 6:21 pm
#312
Suspended
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Location: PVG, FRA, SEA, HEL
Programs: UA Premier Gold
Posts: 4,783
. If a new strain is brought into a crowded NYC subway and spreads it could be a disaster for the city, and would probably quickly spread around the country.
Yes, the Coronavirus mutates, but it is extremely unlikely that a mutated strain will kill fully vaccinated people or make them seriously ill.
The probability to die from the flu (if unvaccinated) is much higher than to die from the Coronavirus (if fully vaccinated).
If your logic prevails, then borders should stay closed forever.
May 22, 2021, 8:48 pm
#313
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 29,970
I am a physician and have been involved in administering vaccines. Nothing in medicine is truly 100%, but the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines come damned close! The chance of a vaccinated person catching the virus from another vaccinated person most likely comes as close to zero and one can get in biology and medicine. The chance of an unvaccinated person getting the virus from a vaccinated individual who is one of the very rare breakthrough cases is extremely low, mainly because the overwhelming majority of the so-called breakthrough cases have such small viral loads.
Can you do me a favor and call oh I don't know....England....and let them know this?
May 23, 2021, 12:11 am
#314
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 7
yea it’s a bit ridiculous to quarantine for 10 days when you’re vaccinated. It’s just all politics now. Then to charge a crap ton for a covid test on the way back home to the states is even more insane 🤣🤣🤣
May 23, 2021, 4:05 am
#315
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: AUS / GRK
Programs: AA, HHonors, Hertz
Posts: 13,484
As I indicated in my post, it isn't up to me. I would hope that the health ministers (in the US the Secretary of Health and Human Services and others), ambassadors, and other appropriate government leaders are meeting and assessing the risk. From there, a determination should be made.
Given that Germany has just yesterday imposed a ban on travelers from the UK, I really don't see the US opening up to them. Although stranger things have happened.
Given that Germany has just yesterday imposed a ban on travelers from the UK, I really don't see the US opening up to them. Although stranger things have happened.