After nearly two years of draconian restrictions designed to prevent wildfire transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the United States on Monday relaxed its entry rules for international non-citizen travelers.
As of Monday, non-citizen, non-immigrant air travelers will be allowed to enter the country with proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and a pre-departure negative PCR coronavirus test, taken within 72 hours of travel.
All of the above proofs must be available and presented to the ground staff at the airport of origin prior to boarding the aircraft for the United States.
Vaccination documentation can include:
- Digital or paper (printed) verifiable record such as a digital pass with a QR code (as is provided in Israel) or a vaccination certificate
- A printout of a COVID-19 vaccination document or COVID-19 vaccination certificate
- Digital record such as a digital photo of a vaccination certificate or card, a downloaded vaccine record, a downloaded vaccination certificate or a mobile phone app displaying the record without a QR code
Nucleic acid amplification tests – including PCR tests – and antigen tests are accepted as pre-flight COVID-19 tests.
The US definition of “full vaccination” includes:
- 14 days after a second shot of an accepted 2-dose COVID-19 vaccine series (ie: Pfizer, Moderna)
- 14 days after a single shot of a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine
- 14 days after having received a full series of accepted COVID-19 vaccine (NOT the placebo) in a clinical trial
- 14 days after receiving the full series of Novavax or Covavax COVID-19 vaccine in a Phase III clinical trial
- 14 days after receiving two doses of any “mix and match” combination of accepted COVID-19 vaccines, administered at least 17 days apart
The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the following COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use:
- Pfizer BioNTech
- Moderna
- Oxford-AstraZeneca / Covishield
- Johnson & Johnson
- Sinopharm
- Sinovac
- Covaxin
(Ed. note: The WHO said it is “still assessing” the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, according to Reuters.))
Airlines are collecting personal contact information (for contact tracing purposes) from all travelers headed to the United States. They are required to keep that information available for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enable contact with travelers who may have been exposed to COVID-19 or infected.
Masks are still required in US airports (and at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel). Vaccinated travelers and unvaccinated children under 12 are not required to self-quarantine after arrival at their destination.