International travelers wishing to fly to the United States will continue to be required to demonstrate that they are vaccinated against covid. This was reported by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) late last week when updating its web page on the virus.
Citizens of other nations who are not immigrating must certify that they are "fully vaccinated" against covid before boarding a plane to North America. The novelty of last Thursday is that those who received a single dose of the bivalent vaccines will also be able to enter the country two weeks after the injection.
Thus, those who have been vaccinated with Moderna and Pfizer's bivalent formula after August 16 will be able to enter by showing a vaccination certificate or a digital pass. With this modification, the requirements for entry are as follows:
- 14 days after receiving a single-dose vaccine from Janssen or the bivalent vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. Also those who have received the Convidecia.
- 14 days after the second dose of an accepted 2-dose series. These include Novavax, Comirnaty, Spikevax, Vaxzevria, Covaxin, Covishield, BIBP/Sinopharm, CoronaVac, Nuvaxovid and Covovax vaccines.
- 14 days after receiving the complete Medicago series in clinical trials.
- 14 days after receiving 2 doses of any accepted COVID-19 vaccine combination administered at least 17 days apart.
A bill against the certificate
Several countries stopped requesting covid passports from foreigners in the last year. As of May last year, it was no longer required by nations such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark. This list was also joined by Canada, Germany, New Zealand and India, among others.
In February, the House of Representatives approved a bill that would add the United States to that group. The initiative, which eliminates the obligation to present vaccination certificates for foreigners, obtained 227 yeses and 201 noes.
All Republican legislators voted in favor of the measure, plus seven Democrats. "The CDC's unscientific mandate is separating too many people from their families and has been doing so for too long," Republican Thomas Massie, the bill's sponsor, said at the time.
H. R. 185 by Santiago Adolfo Ospital on Scribd
The Senate has not yet pronounced itself on the matter. But, even if it gets the necessary support there, the bill would need the president's endorsement to become law. And the White House has already expressed its dissatisfaction with the measure. Government officials argued that the certificates served to reduce transmission of the virus and the burden it placed on the U.S. health care system.
Meanwhile, vaccination continues in the United States.
Earlier this month the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed Moderna and Pfizer's "monovalent" versions from its recommended vaccines. Instead, it added the bivalents of the same companies.
According to data from the same agency, about 6 million Americans received the vaccines that the FDA no longer recommends. Exactly 366,905,365 with Pfizer-BioNTech and 232,103,958 with Moderna. Both are the most widely used so far.
The monovalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer licensed for use in the United States.
The monovalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States.
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) April 18, 2023
In addition, on the 16th of this month, the CDC updated its recommendations to allow one more dose of the bivalent vaccine for people 65 years of age and older and people with weakened immune systems.
