The Biden administration is crafting a plan that would make it mandatory for nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be fully inoculated against Covid-19, CNN and Reuters reported Thursday.
The plan would be part of eventually easing travel bans that prohibit much of the world from entering the country, a White House official said.
Current travel restrictions remain enforced because of threats brought about by the highly infections Delta variant. White House officials are still in the early stages of formulating the proposal and an announcement is not imminent.
The White House is planning to re-open the country for international travel, but is not ready to immediately ease the prohibitions because of the increasing cases of the virus, including the Delta variant, the official disclosed.
News of the U.S. plan currently being deliberated was first reported by Reuters.
The U.S. restricts entry for most non-American nationals who have traveled to Britain, European Union countries, China, South Africa, Ireland, Iran, Brazil, or India within the last two weeks. It is not clear when the U.S. might lift those prohibitions.
The Delta variant of the disease now accounts for more than 90% of infections circulating in the U.S., data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control indicate.
According to the White House official, the Biden administration has formed inter-agency groups working in order to set up a new system ready for when the U.S. can allow travel to resume.
The immunization for international travelers would be made in a phased approach that would include limited exceptions, the official added.
The travel curbs imposed by the U.S. government were first carried out in China in January last year to address the spread of Covid. Other nations have since been added, most recently India in May.
Tourism from overseas has been greatly affected as a result of the U.S. travel restrictions. The bans also prevent migrants from seeking asylum and prevent foreign nationals from visiting family in the U.S., the report said.
In her visit to the White House last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized one key point: that governments do not want to have to shutter travel again once it is initially revived, according to Daily Mail.
