United States Ends Vaccine Requirement For International Travel

United States Ends Vaccine Requirement For International Travel

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The White House has announced plans to end the vaccination requirement for foreign travelers looking to visit the United States, which seems logical enough.

White House lifts vaccine requirement for travel

As we’ve known for some time, the White House will no longer be considering COVID-19 a public health emergency as of May 12, 2023. This has quite a few implications. As it impacts travel, it means that there will be no coronavirus vaccination requirement tied to travel anymore.

We’ve seen travel restrictions evolve over the course of the pandemic. Back in 2020, under the Trump administration, we first saw country-specific travel restrictions put in place, whereby foreign travelers couldn’t enter the United States if they had been in select countries within the past 14 days.

Then in late 2021, the Biden administration replaced travel bans with a vaccine requirement for foreign visitors. Along with that, we also saw a testing requirement for travel, whereby all travelers to the United States needed to get tested prior to entering the United States by air. That requirement was lifted in late 2022.

With COVID-19 no longer being considered a public health emergency, we’re also seeing the corresponding vaccine requirement lifted.

Visitors to the United States will no longer need to be vaccinated

This change seems logical enough

Regardless of how one feels about the Biden administration ending the public health emergency associated with coronavirus, and/or the requirement to get tested, I think it’s logical enough that we’re finally seeing the vaccine requirement for foreigners lifted.

For one, if coronavirus is no longer considered a public health emergency, then it also seems unreasonable to impose restrictions on travelers based on that.

More importantly, though, the current version of the vaccine mandate doesn’t do a whole lot to actually follow the science or protect people. Just having gotten two shots a couple of years ago won’t protect you nearly as much as being boosted, so I’ve always thought that if you’re going to have a vaccine requirement, you should also have a booster requirement.

It’s kind of like mask requirements. If you’re going to make people wear masks, at least require them to wear high quality masks that provide a high level of protection, rather than just any cloth mask.

The vaccine requirement for travel seemed outdated at this point

Bottom line

As of May 12, 2023, foreign visitors to the United States will no longer need to provide proof of vaccination. Given that the White House is no longer considering coronavirus to be a public health emergency, that change is logical enough.

Conversations (17)
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  1. AGrumpyOldMan_GA Diamond

    COVID hasn’t been an emergency for at least a year if not 18 months or more. They only kept it in place long past any reasonable period for political purposes.

  2. Series Guest

    Funny you mention the science because all of the science indicates that more boosters = more likelihood to get covid.

  3. Honkbert Gold

    Nobody could have foreseen that transmission is determined by infection status, not vaccination status.

  4. Samuel Guest

    We couldn't be governed by a stupider group of people.

    1. TravelinWilly Diamond

      Yes you could; dotard comes to mind.

  5. NicktheGreek Guest

    I'm reading elsewhere it's not being completely dropped, just definitions loosened, for non citizens etc entering.

    I really can't believe this is still a thing, given I just about every other country in the world it isn't.

  6. Billy Bob Guest

    All visitors must be vaccinated as of today. It is slated to end on May 12, so another 11 days of that silliness.
    PS: P2 (on an Asian passport) was not even asked during a US arrival a few weeks ago. Some in HS are also pretty sick of enforcing such a brainless policy.

    1. Eskimo Guest

      A clear example of a failure in the system.
      That's when you push the burden of proof to the airline check-in employee rather than CBP.

      Even back when vaccine requirement was a thing, CBP never asked. They assumed the airline did that part and clear you before being allowed to fly.

  7. Ken Guest

    You mean there was a vaccine requirement? I've been to the US twice this year and no one asked for it

  8. Karen Guest

    I'm unclear on boosters myself after watching the testimony to Congress by a JHU MD. He stated that young people do not benefit from a booster & that vaccine experts quit the FDA in protest over this particular issue of boosters in the young/healthy & that the data was never there. He also said that is why the CDC did not disclose hospitalization rates among boosted Americans under the age of 50. I'm not sure...

    I'm unclear on boosters myself after watching the testimony to Congress by a JHU MD. He stated that young people do not benefit from a booster & that vaccine experts quit the FDA in protest over this particular issue of boosters in the young/healthy & that the data was never there. He also said that is why the CDC did not disclose hospitalization rates among boosted Americans under the age of 50. I'm not sure what the other side of that is, but there does not seem to be consensus for younger adults, at least from this data point.

    1. Not Karen Guest

      Something a literal random Karen on the internet would say. If you are not what the "other side of that is" why don't you actually bother finding out before spewing your one-sided bs

    2. Eskimo Guest

      Yet @Not Karen is doing the exact same thing. If @Not Karen thinks that @Karen is 'one-sided bs', why don't @Not Karen actually bother finding out before spewing @Not Karen's one-sided bs.

    3. Karen Guest

      @Not Karen - Apologies. "other side of that is" was more of a figure of speech than anything. I should have been more clear. The other side is what Ben had stated in his article, about boosters being effective, which is also what the mainstream medical narrative is. I just provided the info from the John Hopkins MD, who many also agree with, so if that is one-sided and bs, then ok. I am not...

      @Not Karen - Apologies. "other side of that is" was more of a figure of speech than anything. I should have been more clear. The other side is what Ben had stated in his article, about boosters being effective, which is also what the mainstream medical narrative is. I just provided the info from the John Hopkins MD, who many also agree with, so if that is one-sided and bs, then ok. I am not sure why we can only consider info from some medical doctors, but not others.

    4. David Diamond

      Karen provided sensible commentary that you can easily verify with a literal 20 second Google, and you instead chose to attack her based on her name and... nothing else? The doctor is question is Marty Makary, a surgeon and public health researcher at John Hopkins, with a Masters of Public Health from Harvard. Is that qualified enough for having an opinion on public health for you?

    5. Steven Guest

      @David, to them, it doesn't matter who said it. What matters is what that person said. It's why they praise Greta Thunberg while berating Jay Bhattacharya. It's what they did for the last 3+ years now.

  9. Never In Doubt Guest

    I’d forgotten we still had this for visitors.

    What complete nonsense to *still* have it.

  10. echino Diamond

    What? US still had the vaccine requirement?

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

AGrumpyOldMan_GA Diamond

COVID hasn’t been an emergency for at least a year if not 18 months or more. They only kept it in place long past any reasonable period for political purposes.

4
Karen Guest

I'm unclear on boosters myself after watching the testimony to Congress by a JHU MD. He stated that young people do not benefit from a booster & that vaccine experts quit the FDA in protest over this particular issue of boosters in the young/healthy & that the data was never there. He also said that is why the CDC did not disclose hospitalization rates among boosted Americans under the age of 50. I'm not sure what the other side of that is, but there does not seem to be consensus for younger adults, at least from this data point.

4
Series Guest

Funny you mention the science because all of the science indicates that more boosters = more likelihood to get covid.

3
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