The policy that will require foreign nationals – with only limited exceptions – to be fully vaccinated to fly to the United States, starts on November 8th, the U.S. Consulate in Bermuda has confirmed.
The Consulate’s statement said there will be exceptions for children — the official website states “children under 18 are exempted from the vaccination requirement for foreign national travelers” — and the Consulate also said there will be exceptions for people including “those with rare medical contraindications to the vaccines.”
A spokesperson said, “On October 25, the Biden Administration released details behind the new international air travel policy that is stringent, consistent across the globe, and guided by public health. Starting on November 8, foreign national air travelers to the United States will be required – with only limited exceptions – to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to fly to the United States.
“This new global travel system replaces the existing country-by-country restrictions, putting in place a consistent approach worldwide.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] has determined that for the purposes of entry into the United States, vaccines accepted will include those approved or authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA], World Health Organization [WHO] emergency use listed [EUL] vaccines. That currently includes Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson; but also vaccines like AstraZeneca that have a WHO EUL.
“It is important to note that fully vaccinated air travelers will continue to be required to show documentation of a pre-departure negative viral test taken within three days of travel to the United States before boarding. That includes all travelers – U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents [LPRs], and foreign nationals.
“To further strengthen protections, unvaccinated travelers – whether U.S. citizens, LPRs, or the small number of excepted unvaccinated foreign nationals – will now need to show proof of a negative test within one day of travel to the United States.
“The presidential proclamation and CDC order include a very limited set of exceptions from the vaccination requirement for foreign nationals. These include exceptions for children, certain Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial participants, those with rare medical contraindications to the vaccines, those who need to travel for emergency or humanitarian reasons, those who are traveling on non-tourist visas from countries with low-vaccine availability, members of the armed forces and their immediate families, airline crew, ship crew, and diplomats.
“More information for air and land border travel, visa applicants, and U.S. citizen travelers will be provided as it becomes available and can also be found here. For more information on vaccine requirements and exceptions, visit here.
The official White House proclamation states, “The entry into the United States by air travel of noncitizens who are nonimmigrants and who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is suspended and limited, except as provided in section 3 of this proclamation.
“This proclamation is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on November 8, 2021. This proclamation does not apply to persons aboard a flight scheduled to arrive in the United States that departed prior to 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on November 8, 2021.”
