US announces border opening date for vaccinated EU and UK visitors

The US has announced that it will be opening its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from countries including France from November 8.

People entering the country will have to present a negative result from a Covid test taken in the 72 hours before their journey began.

This move marks the end of a travel ban which was first introduced at the beginning of the Covid pandemic in March 2020.

This currently applies to all non-US citizens – with only some “specific exceptions” – who have been in the UK, the European Schengen zone (including France), China, Iran, India, Ireland, South Africa or Brazil in the last 14 days.

Travellers will be classed as being fully vaccinated if they have received a vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or that has an Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Only Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Janssen are recognised by the FDA, but the inclusion of WHO-approved jabs will mean that people having been vaccinated with AstraZeneca or China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines will also be able to enter the country.

The US government had previously announced that its air and land borders would open to vaccinated people in “early November,” but had not specified a date.

British Airways CEO Sean Doyle welcomed today’s news, stating that: “Nearly 600 days since the introduction of the US travel ban, this is a pivotal moment for the entire travel industry and finally provides the certainty we have so desperately needed.

“We can’t wait to welcome our customers back on board and reconnect friends and families across the Atlantic.”

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