U.S. ending COVID-19 vaccine mandates for travellers, federal workers
Global News
The mandates will come to an end on May 11 — the same day the national public health emergency related to the pandemic will be lifted.
The Biden administration will lift the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for international travellers entering the United States next week, the White House announced Monday.
The mandate for air travellers, as well as a separate order covering federal government workers and contractors, will come to an end on May 11 — the same day the national public health emergency related to the pandemic will be lifted.
The administration will also “start the process to end” vaccine mandates for early childhood educators in the Head Start program, health-care workers and “certain noncitizens at the land border” on the same day, a statement from the White House said.
“Our COVID-19 vaccination requirements bolstered vaccination across the nation, and our broader vaccination campaign has saved millions of lives,” the statement said.
The White House added the U.S. is “in a different phase of our response to COVID-19 than we were when many of these requirements were put into place” in 2021.
At the time they were announced, those mandates and others covered more than 100 million Americans.
The lifting of the vaccine mandate for incoming travellers comes months after Canada’s own program was allowed to expire. Travellers entering Canada have not been required to show proof of vaccination since Oct. 1, 2022.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed the international traveller mandate last week, considering anyone who received a single dose of either a Pfizer or Moderna bivalent vaccine on or after Aug. 16, 2022, as having met the requirement. Before, at least two doses of an approved vaccine were required.
