THE US ban on travel from the EU, including Ireland, and the UK, including Northern Ireland, will end in November for fully vaccinated travellers.
Fully vaccinated Irish tourists will be able to enter the US from November onward, the White House has confirmed.
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients announced the “new international air travel” system on Monday morning, which will allow fully vaccinated foreign nationals, including those from Ireland and Northern Ireland, to enter the US starting early November.
“Foreign nationals flying to the US will be required to be fully vaccinated,” Zients said at a press conference on Monday.
Travelers will be required to show proof of full vaccination, as well as a negative COVID test taken within three days prior to travel, prior to boarding US-bound flights. The CDC in the US will release a list of its accepted vaccinations before the policy goes into effect in November.
The CDC will also be issuing a contact tracing order which will require airlines to collect information such s phone numbers and email addresses of US-bound passengers in the coming weeks, Zients said.
Zients said: “This vaccination requirement deploys the best tool we have in our arsenal to keep people safe and prevent the spread of the virus.
“Vaccines continue to show that they’re highly effective, including against the delta variant, and the new system allows us to implement strict protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for Internal Market who was involved with negotiations of the new travel system, welcomed the news on Monday:
Done! 🇪🇺🇺🇸
Today the US announce lifting the travel ban on fully vaccinated Europeans.
Intense negotiations have paid off — and the EU Vaccine #TaskForce will keep working with the Biden admistration on other important topics such as supply chains. pic.twitter.com/lemqIaGnRZ
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) September 20, 2021
