The US will reopen its land borders in November for fully vaccinated people

USA will open its land borders with Mexico and Canada at the beginning of November to travelers vaccinated against the coronavirus entering for non-essential reasons, a senior White House official announced Wednesday.

The official affirmed that the precise date of entry into force of the new regulation will be announced “in the next few days” for these trips by land, as well as for international trips by plane, subject to the same calendar and for which the mandatory vaccination it had been announced on September 20.

“Iran hand in hand”, according to the White House source.

Faced with the pandemic, The United States closed its borders since March 2020 for millions of travelers coming in particular from the European Union, the United Kingdom or China, later from India or Brazil. But also for visitors arriving by land from Canada and Mexico.

The restriction has caused painful personal situations and financial damage.

Regarding land border crossing, the source said that the new system would be implemented in “two phases.”

Initially, vaccinations will be required for “non-essential” trips, such as tourism or to visit family members, and the vaccination requirement will not apply to “essential” trips, which have always been allowed.

For the second phase, from “early January” 2022, all travelers must be fully vaccinated regardless of the nature of the trip.

This will allow “enough time” for, for example, drivers of heavy vehicles who have compelling professional reasons to cross the border to be vaccinated, the White House explained.

The source indicated that the restrictions in force for these land borders, which expire on October 21, would be extended once again until the date of entry into force of the new device.

What vaccines?

Asked about the vaccines that will allow entry to the territory, the high official referred to recent indications from the US health authorities.

The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the main federal public health agency, has “informed the airlines that all vaccines approved by the FDA (the United States Drug Administration) and the World Organization Health would be accepted for air travel.

“It will be the same for land travel,” the senior official anticipated, and specified that the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not administered in the United States, would also be accepted.

The source clarified that the lifting of the restrictions would only affect legal entry by land into the territory.

He confirmed that “Title 42,” the controversial law that allowed the Trump administration and then the Biden administration to deport irregular people for health reasons, since the start of the pandemic, will continue to apply.

This text, criticized by associations because it would particularly restrict the right to asylum, was invoked by the White House to massively expel Haitians who had recently gathered on the border with Mexico.

Regarding air transport, the senior official said that the Biden administration has yet to finalize the procedure, in particular everything that involves the tracking of people entering the territory and the tests that will be carried out on travelers.

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