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The US Govt has announced new international air travel rules of COVID. The rules will come into effect from Nov 08.

According to the US Dept of State, foreign national air travellers, starting from Nov 08, flying to the United States will be needed to be fully vaccinated. They must also provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding the flight to the United States, with a few exceptions, notified the Department.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also decided that the accepted vaccines must be approved or authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) including the vaccines listed for emergency use from the WHO (World Health Organization) i.e. Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, and Sinopharm vaccines, for the purposes of entry into the United States.

According to the issued guidelines, mixing and matching of approved/ authorized shots will also be permitted.

Fully vaccinated passengers will continuously be asked to produce documentation/ report of a pre-departure negative viral test from a sample taken within 03 days of travel before boarding. The travellers include - US Citizens, LPRs(Lawful Permanent Residents), and Foreign Nationals.

Furthermore, the Dept has also informed that the unvaccinated travellers must also show a report of a negative viral test from a sample taken within 01 day of travel to strengthen protections.

The Dept has exempted the children under 18 from the vaccination requirement for foreign national travellers due to the ineligibility of younger children's vaccination and the global variability to access the vaccination for older kids who are eligible. But, the advisory has mandated a pre-departure test for children between the ages of 2 years and 17 years and for kids below 02 years of age, the CDC has recommended a pre-departure test, whenever possible.