After the travel restrictions for international passengers traveling to the USA were finally lifted in exchange for a less stringent set of procedures after almost 20 months, the country is set to ensure that the guidelines charted by its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be followed from now on until further notice. It is important that you take note of these if you’re an Indian who is planning to travel to the USA and before you get your flight tickets from India to USA.
Documents Required
The authorities are going to check if the passengers’ names and date of birth are in sync with the data provided on the proof of vaccination. They are also going to check if the vaccination record was issued by an official source such as a government agency, public health agency, etc. in the travelers’ country of vaccination.
This review of information also includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) definition of being fully vaccinated with data like the ones given below:
-Vaccine product
-Number of doses received
-Date(s) of administration
-Site of administration, i.e., the hospital, vaccination clinic, etc.
The point to remember is that the second dose of the 2-dose vaccination must be completed only two weeks prior to departure, that is excluding the date of the administration of the vaccine.
The language of paper and digital documentation, and vaccine cards may not be in English. It is not a necessity.
Testing Requirements
Only children below the age of 2 years are excluded from vaccination when traveling as flight passengers. Everyone from the age of 2 years and above needs to have a negative COVID- 19 test done, regardless of their nationality and even if they are fully vaccinated. They must get the test three days prior to the departure of their booked direct flights from India to USA.
Rapid antigen and PCR tests, both are accepted under the guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The United States of America will continue to monitor the passengers’ vaccination status and will be requiring airlines to launch a contact tracing system, so further mishaps can be controlled and mitigated. This will be done so that in case there is an outbreak at a later time, the passengers’ contact information such as phone number, email, and address can be obtained through the airlines providing the services.
Exemptions From Vaccination
The only people who are exempted from vaccination will have to do a COVID- 19 negative test within one day of departure. The categories of people who are exempt from vaccination are as follows:
-US Citizens
-Lawful permanent residents (LPRs)
-Specifically accepted unvaccinated foreign nationals
Another thing to note is that children below the age of 18 years, who are traveling with vaccinated adults are exempt from the vaccination requirement.
What Vaccines Are Approved?
Travelers flying into the US by air will have to be vaccinated by vaccines that are approved by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Approved vaccines include only seven vaccines, which are Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Sinopharm, Covaxin, and Sinovac vaccines. The World Health Organization (WHO) eventually granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for the Covaxin vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) followed this as well.
Apart from this, Covaxin has also been recognized by Australia, Oman, the Philippines, Mexico, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Greece, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, State of Palestine, Mauritius, and Mongolia.
Phases of Re-Opening of Borders
There are two phases of re-opening the borders of the United States of America. These are explained in brief as follows:
Passengers traveling for non-essential trips such as tourism and family visits will need to be vaccinated from Monday onwards. Unvaccinated passengers will be allowed entry for essential trips.
The second phase is going to start from January onwards, where all passengers need to be vaccinated completely to enter the USA, regardless of their reason for travel.
We at Tripbeam recommend that everyone, despite being an air traveler or not, gets completely vaccinated at their earliest convenience before they book flights from India to USA. This not only helps in keeping you safe but also your near and dear ones free from facing any problems before, during, and after their air travel. Fly safe.
Also Read: List of Non-Stop Flights Between India and the USA