US Lifts Vaccination Requirement for Air Travelers from Abroad as Covid-19 Cases and Deaths Decline

The US government announced on Monday that when the more far-reaching corona emergency regulations expire on May 11, it will also lift the vaccination requirement for air travelers from abroad. For around a year and a half, foreigners have only been allowed to enter the United States after being fully vaccinated against the coronavirus using internationally recognized preparations. The US government introduced compulsory vaccination in November 2021 to slow the spread of the virus.

The White House has now said that hospital admissions and deaths related to the corona virus have each fallen by a good 90 percent since January 2021. Corona deaths worldwide are at their lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic. The country is now “in a different phase” than when the corona protection measures were introduced. Vaccination is now also to be abolished for federal employees and other groups.

At the beginning of the corona pandemic in March 2020, then US President Donald Trump even ordered an entry ban for foreigners from large parts of Europe. Entry from the Schengen area, Great Britain and Ireland was prohibited with a few exceptions. The USA also imposed extensive entry bans on foreigners from India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Iran due to the pandemic and maintained them for a long time.