US will accept WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines for international visitors

The United States will accept the use by international visitors of COVID-19 vaccines authorized by US regulators or the WHO, the CDC said late on Friday. On Sept. 20, the White House announced the United States in November would lift travel restrictions on air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It did not specify then which vaccines would be accepted. A CDC spokeswoman told Reuters Friday, "Six vaccines that are FDA authorized/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the U.S." Late on Friday, the CDC said that "earlier this week, to help them prepare their systems we informed airlines" of the vaccines that would be accepted and added "CDC will release additional guidance and information as the travel requirements are finalized." Airlines for America said it was "pleased by the CDC's decision to approve a list of authorized vaccinations for travelers entering the US. We look forward to working with the administration to implement this new global vaccine and testing framework by early November 2021." Some countries had pressed the Biden administration to accept WHO-approved vaccines, since the US FDG authorized vaccines are not widely used in all countries. The United States will admit fully vaccinated air travelers from the 26 so-called Schengen countries in Europe as well as Britain, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil. The unprecedented US restrictionshave barred most non-US citizens who were in those countries within the past 14 days.<br/>