The Biden administration will be easing travel restrictions on all fully vaccinated international travelers for air travel and land border crossings effective November 8, 2021. As previously confirmed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only the vaccines that are approved or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration or listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization will be accepted for air travel. Reports indicate that the administration anticipates the same will be true at land borders.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mayorkas announced, too, that DHS will lift the restrictions for land and ferry border crossings from Canada and Mexico in two phases.
- Phase 1: In early November 2021, DHS will first allow non-essential travel across the land and ferry borders for fully vaccinated individuals, while still allowing essential travel for unvaccinated individuals.
- Phase 2: In early January 2022, DHS will then require all foreign travelers, whether essential or not, to be fully vaccinated. There will be limited exceptions to these requirements, such as for children; COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial participants; and humanitarian exceptions for people traveling for an important reason and who lack access to a vaccination in a timely manner.
As of today, the accepted vaccines are as follows:
- FDA Authorized/Approved:
- Moderna
- Johnson & Johnson
- Pfizer-BioNTech
- WHO Approved:
- Moderna
- Johnson & Johnson
- Pfizer-BioNTech
- Oxford-AstraZeneca/Covishield
- Sinopharm
- Sinovac
The CDC ?will continue to require all air passengers two years of age and over entering the United States (including U.S.?citizens and Legal Permanent Residents) to present a negative COVID-19 test, taken within three calendar days of departure.
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