Due to the recent announcement about travel regulations for international travelers to the US, foreign national travelers planning a journey to the USA can finally sigh in peace. The new vaccine requirements were signed by US President Joe Biden on Monday, with the changes being effective from November 8, 2021. It eases the restrictions for air travel on passengers coming from China, India, and most of Europe. This means Indian passengers can go on India to US and US to India flights without worries.
ANI quoted the Spokesperson, US Dept. of State on Twitter:
“Foreign national air travelers to the US will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to the US. New vaccination policy will come into effect for international travelers on November 8”.
What You Need To Know About the Requirements
- Indian passengers who are inoculated with either of Bharat Biotech’s Sputnik or Covaxin will not be able to travel to the USA next month, according to the notification by CDC.
- Passengers who have only been immunized with vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) are allowed to board the flight to the US.
- Currently, there are only 7 vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). They are Pfizer/ BioNTech’s BNT162b2, Moderna’s m-RNA-1273, Oxford/AstraZeneca’s AZD1222, Johnson & Johnson’ Ad26.COV2.S, Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV (Vero Cells), Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, and Sinovac’s CoronaVac.
- Children below age 2 years do not need to be tested for COVID19.
- From 8th November 2021, all passengers above age 2 years need to present a negative COVID19 test result, within the time based on their vaccination or show documentation of having recovered from COVID19 in the last 90 days.
- Regardless of citizenship, all vaccinated travelers entering the USA internationally need to show a negative COVID19 result taken within 3 days of departure before boarding the flight.
- For unvaccinated citizens and permanent residents, they need to show a negative COVID19 test result taken within a day prior to boarding.
For more details on traveling to the USA by air, check out US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) official website. CDC recommends all passengers to put off international journeys till passengers get completely vaccinated, including those on India to US flights and last minute flights to India.
Also Read: The USA Raises Its Travel Restrictions Starting November
