On Wednesday, August 6, White House sources confirmed to Reuters that a plan to make it mandatory to vaccinate incoming travelers against coronavirus to be eligible to enter the United States is under implementation.
The plan is currently in the early stages of development, and, according to the same source, it will include a step-by-step approach, which will subsequently mean, with some exceptions, that foreign nationals traveling to the United States (from all countries) will you need to get a full vaccination. “
Although the introduction of such a requirement means that more people will not be able to come to the United States from countries such as Canada and Australia, for residents of the Schengen area and the United Kingdom, it means that finally travel to the United States will be possible for most of them.
Such statements were made at a time when the United States has faced strong criticism of the entry ban for travelers from the Schengen area, Britain and Ireland, which has been in force since late winter last year.
EU Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen is among those who have criticized the entry ban for travelers from the EU, saying that the EU and the US are in the same COVID-19 situation.
Earlier, sources in the White House confirmed that the US authorities do not plan to lift the entry ban for the Schengen area due to fears arising from the spread of the “Delta” option in Europe.
However, not everyone welcomed the idea of introducing a vaccination requirement for arriving travelers.
The US Travel Association has responded to the news, calling the plan a “step back” if it becomes a reality. For several months now, the same Association has been constantly demanding the opening of borders to countries around the world.
The association called on the government to set an opening date as soon as possible, as other countries are also moving towards opening their borders, citing EU member states and Canada as examples.