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(Adds details of China travel hurdles)
By David Shepardson and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The United States will
reopen in November to air travelers from 33 countries including
China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated
against COVID-19, the White House said on Monday, easing tough
pandemic-related restrictions that started early last year.
The decision, announced by White House coronavirus response
coordinator Jeff Zients, marked an abrupt shift for President
Joe Biden's administration, which said last week it was not the
right time to lift any restrictions amid rising COVID-19 cases.
The United States had lagged many other countries in lifting
such restrictions, and allies welcomed the move. The U.S.
restrictions have barred travelers from most of the world
including tens of thousands of foreign nationals with relatives
or business links in the United States.
The United States will admit fully vaccinated air travelers
from the 26 so-called Schengen countries in Europe including
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Greece, as well
as Britain, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and
Brazil. The unprecedented U.S. restrictions have barred non-U.S.
citizens who were in those countries within the past 14 days.
Restrictions on non-U.S. citizens were first imposed on air
travelers from China in January 2020 by then-President Donald
Trump and then extended to dozens of other countries, without
any clear metrics for how and when to lift them.
Zients did not give a precise start date for the new rules
beyond saying "early November," and many details of the new
policy are still being decided.
Separately on Monday, the United States extended its
pandemic-related restrictions at land borders with Canada and
Mexico that bar nonessential travel such as tourism through Oct.
21. It gave no indication if it would apply the new vaccine
rules to those land border crossings.
The United States has allowed foreign air travelers from
more than 150 countries throughout the pandemic, a policy that
critics said made little sense because some countries with high
COVID-19 rates were not on the restricted list, while some on
the list had the pandemic more under control.
Monday's action means COVID-19 vaccine requirements will now
apply to nearly all foreign nationals flying to the United
States - including those not subject to the prior restrictions.
Americans traveling from abroad who are not vaccinated will
face tougher rules than vaccinated citizens, including needing
to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within a day of travel
and proof of purchasing a viral test to be taken after arrival.
'BASING IT ON SCIENCE'
Airlines for America, an industry trade group, said that
through late August, international air travel was down 43% from
pre-pandemic levels.
The announcement comes as President Joe Biden makes his
first U.N. General Assembly speech on Tuesday, and hosts leaders
from Britain, India, Japan and Australia this week.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday
the policy was not timed for diplomacy. "If we were going to
make things much easier for ourselves, we would have done it
prior to June, when the president had his first foreign trip, or
earlier this summer. This is when the process concluded," she
said. "We're basing it on science."
U.S. COVID-19 infections and deaths have skyrocketed since
June as the Delta variant spreads, particularly among the
unvaccinated. Nearly 29,000 new U.S. cases were reported on
Sunday.
British Airways Chief Executive Sean Doyle said the U.S.
announcement "marks a historic moment and one which will provide
a huge boost to Global Britain as it emerges from this
pandemic."
Shares in U.S. airlines were little changed, while some
European carriers gained. British Airways parent IAG SA
rose 11.2%, while Air France-KLM and Deutsche
Lufthansa AG closed up more than 5%.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the announcement
"a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family
and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once
again." Germany's U.S. ambassador, Emily Haber, said on Twitter
it was "hugely important to promote people-to-people contacts
and transatlantic business."
It will have less impact travel from China, which requires
its residents to quarantine for at least two weeks on return
home. International flights from China are capped and running at
around 2% of 2019 levels, a situation expected to last until the
second half of next year.
CDC HAS FINAL WORD ON VACCINES ACCEPTED
Foreign nationals will need to present proof of vaccination
before travel and will not be required to quarantine on arrival.
The White House said the final decision on what vaccines
would be accepted is up to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC on Monday pointed to its prior guidance when asked
what vaccines it will accept.
"The CDC considers someone fully vaccinated with any
FDA-authorized or approved vaccines and any vaccines that (the
World Health Organization) has authorized," said spokesperson
Kristen Nordlund. That list could change pending additions by
either agency, she said.
Exceptions include children not yet eligible for shots.
Airlines heavily lobbied the White House to lift the
restrictions, and it has been working since August https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-us-developing-plan-require-foreign-visitors-be-vaccinated-official-2021-08-04
on the new plan.
The U.S. Travel Association trade group previously estimated
that the U.S. restrictions, if they ran to the end of the year,
would cost the American economy $325 billion.
Zients said last Wednesday that given the rise of the Delta
variant, it was not the right time to lift travel restrictions.
Asked on Monday what had changed since then, Zients cited rising
global vaccinations, adding: "The new system allows us to
implement strict protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19."
Zients said the new system would include collecting contact
tracing data from passengers traveling into the United States to
enable the CDC to contact travelers exposed to COVID-19.
The administration has been considering imposing vaccine
requirements for foreign nationals since May, officials said,
but the White House only decided on Friday to move forward.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Andrea Shalal; Additional
reporting by Sarah Young, Julie Steenhuysen and Jamie Freed;
Editing by Will Dunham, Heather Timmons, Peter Cooney and Sonya
Hepinstall)
