Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > Travel Health and Fitness > Coronavirus and travel
Reload this Page >

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

Old Sep 15, 2021, 1:47 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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 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


Print Wikipost

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

 
Old Jun 17, 2021, 7:46 am
  #1051  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 710
And if you look at the John's Hopkins country data, it confirms the same - huge drop.
Markie, 84fiero, LETTERBOY and 2 others like this.
glbltvlr is offline  
Old Jun 17, 2021, 9:57 am
  #1052  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: JFK, MAN
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 425
Originally Posted by kingcole974
[...] considering that the UK has had one of the strictest policies in the northern hemisphere
Try Canada.
destone is offline  
Old Jun 17, 2021, 3:25 pm
  #1053  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: PVG, FRA, SEA, HEL
Programs: UA Premier Gold
Posts: 4,783
or try Finland!
DL77 likes this.
warakorn is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 6:12 am
  #1054  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,571
People with AstraZeneca don't count as vaccinated when wanting access to this event in the US. It appears to be a state-wide NY rule (as AZ is not FDA approved).

"Bruce Springsteen fans with AstraZeneca vaccine to be turned away from New York theatre shows"
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-b1868373.html
adrianlondon is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 6:47 am
  #1055  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: CA, FL, and China.
Programs: UA1K (no longer serviced!), Bonvoy P, Hyatt G
Posts: 704
Originally Posted by adrianlondon
People with AstraZeneca don't count as vaccinated when wanting access to this event in the US. It appears to be a state-wide NY rule (as AZ is not FDA approved).

"Bruce Springsteen fans with AstraZeneca vaccine to be turned away from New York theatre shows"
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-b1868373.html
I surely hope that’s fake news,[rest of comment removed by moderator].

Last edited by l etoile; Jun 18, 2021 at 8:08 am Reason: inappropriate portion of comment removed
GloballyServiced is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 8:06 am
  #1056  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Silicon wasteland
Programs: UA 1KMM
Posts: 1,380
Originally Posted by GloballyServiced
I surely hope that’s fake news, [conforming moderator edit per the post above this one].
While I might disagree with the result, if one is going to accept vaccinated people, I could inject myself with the "ryman554vaccine" consisting entirely of saline solution diluted from expired pfizer vaccine, but it "remembers". OK, there are worlds apart from that "vaccine" and AZ, But what method does one use to draw the line? FDA approval is one such reasonable method, since the vaccine will have been studied and approved and green-lighted by hopefully unbiased scientists. Unfortunately, AZ runs afoul of that. But we hear anecdotes even on this board that Sinovac (or pharm?) *shouldn't* be accepted? What's fundamentally the difference (to the US eye) than AZ vs. Sino-blank? It's not FDA approval. It's not EUA-ish approval in the home countries (both are)... what objective method should one take? Especially if my tropical island creates it's own country in authorizes "ryman554vaccine" for it's entire population. Now what?

If you say "look at the clinical trial data", I ask "by whom" and you get awfully close to FDA "approval" or something near it.

And lets not forget the additional international uproar if we just say "lets allow AZ, but not sino-blank or ryman554vaccine". I can say for certain the the island of rymanania will *not* be welcoming any of you dirty folk who were vaccinated by bio-n-tech nor moderna.

I'm open to hearing other alternatives, but you need a way to select between the "good" vaccines and the "not useful" ones in an unbiased fashion.
outgoing likes this.

Last edited by Ocn Vw 1K; Jun 18, 2021 at 8:34 am Reason: See note above.
ryman554 is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 8:39 am
  #1057  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: CMN,DXB,CDG
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum
Posts: 763
Originally Posted by ryman554
I'm open to hearing other alternatives, but you need a way to select between the "good" vaccines and the "not useful" ones in an unbiased fashion.

I get your point, multiple countries have different set of rules and guidelines. If only there were a supra-national entity all states could refer to because they were all members of that organisation and have been listening to it when it comes to Covid for more than a year now...Oh darn I wish that existed

Last edited by offvoice; Jun 18, 2021 at 8:47 am
offvoice is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 8:47 am
  #1058  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
Originally Posted by offvoice
I get your point, multiple countries have different set of rules and guidelines. If only there were a supra-national entity all states could refer to because they were all members of that organisation and have been listening to it when it comes to Covid for more than a year now...Oh darn I wish that existed
That exists?
LondonElite is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 8:48 am
  #1059  
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,239
Originally Posted by offvoice
I get your point, multiple countries have different set of rules and guidelines. If only there were a supra-national entity all states could refer to because they were all members of that organisation and have been listening to them when it comes to Covid for more than a year now...Oh darn I wish that existed
I think the World Health Organization is the right outfit to provide advice but it cannot replace a country's right to determine which vaccines it feels is safe for its citizens. That said, my guess is that if/when vaccinated travelers are permitted to enter the USA from Schengen and the UK it will include those vaccinated with AZ. The FDA may not approve it for use in the USA but that doesn't mean it won't recognize those vaccinated with it elsewhere.
adrianlondon and Tiramisu like this.
golfmad is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 8:49 am
  #1060  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: CMN,DXB,CDG
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum
Posts: 763
Originally Posted by LondonElite
That exists?

I might be overreaching, but couldn't that be the point of the WHO?
the810 and Owenc like this.
offvoice is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 8:50 am
  #1061  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
Originally Posted by offvoice
I might be overreaching, but couldn't that be the point of the WHO?
Has every member listened to and done what the WHO said/says? Isn’t there some big country that recently left the club?
LondonElite is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 8:53 am
  #1062  
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,239
Originally Posted by LondonElite
Has every member listened to and done what the WHO said/says? Isn’t there some big country that recently left the club?
The USA rejoined (or never quite actually left).
adrianlondon likes this.
golfmad is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 8:56 am
  #1063  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
Originally Posted by golfmad
The USA rejoined (or never quite actually left).
Oh, I stand corrected.
LondonElite is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 9:08 am
  #1064  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: PVG, FRA, SEA, HEL
Programs: UA Premier Gold
Posts: 4,783
I have just read -> the German Federal Minister for Transport (Andreas B'Scheuert) has just put out words that he wishes the US administration to lift he ban soon.
Mr. B'Scheuert is known to be an active lobbyist for Lufthansa, hence, we know has initiated that media blitz.
Owenc likes this.
warakorn is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2021, 11:29 am
  #1065  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Silicon wasteland
Programs: UA 1KMM
Posts: 1,380
Originally Posted by golfmad
I think the World Health Organization is the right outfit to provide advice but it cannot replace a country's right to determine which vaccines it feels is safe for its citizens. That said, my guess is that if/when vaccinated travelers are permitted to enter the USA from Schengen and the UK it will include those vaccinated with AZ. The FDA may not approve it for use in the USA but that doesn't mean it won't recognize those vaccinated with it elsewhere.
I don't necessarily disagree, but...

Consider flight worthiness of airplanes. That is governed by the country of the airspace you are in. So, while the FAA controls worthiness of planes in the USA, it does not in Europe. Or, rather the EU body has final jurisdiction. Granter there is (was, before MAX debacle) a lot of automatic reciprocity, it is not guraranteed.

The same is true for pre flight security. Some countries are trusted, others are not. The US trusts nobody. But there are standards.

The same is going to be true for vaccination certification. Whole the WHO is a great idea, I suspect you are going to need the FAA equivalent of the USA to sign off. Who is that? And how will they make the decision? My strong guess is you are going to have to have some sort of efficacy (but not safety) sign off from the FDA/NSAID/somewhere (spelling). Or you just go with the FDA approved, but that standard may.br too tight (focus on safety vs. efficacy)

But relying on FDA approval is not asinine, simply suboptimal.


​​​
ryman554 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.