COVID-19 vaccination registration card issued by the Centers for Disease Control
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U.S. airlines and more than two dozen other industry groups on Monday urged the Biden administration to form a plan for May to lift international travel restrictions, including digital vaccine passport standards, after cross-border travel was devastated by the Covid pandemic.
Airlines for America, which represents major US airlines such as American, United, Southwest and others, sent a letter to Jeffrey Zients, White House Covid-19 response team coordinator, saying the guidelines should exempt vaccinated people from international testing standards.
Among other recommendations, the groups called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update its guidelines to say vaccinated people can travel safely, according to a copy of the letter consulted by CNBC.
“To be clear, at this time we do not support the removal or removal of basic public health protections, such as the universal mask mandate, the requirement of incoming international testing, physical distancing, or other measures that have travel is safer and reduces the transmission of the virus, ”said the letter, which was also signed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest union of flight agents and other industry groups. “However, data and science show that there are now adequate public health measures to effectively mitigate risk and enable the safe removal of entry restrictions.”
Most non-US citizens who have recently been to Europe, the United Kingdom and Brazil have been banned from entering the US since last March, when then-President Donald Trump instituted the rules while the Covid-19 s ‘spread all over the world. In January, President Joe Biden expanded entry restrictions and added South Africa to the list due to an increase in infections and new, more contagious variants.
The group also called on the White House to set rules for digital health documents that could show immigration officials evidence of vaccinations or test results.
Meanwhile, airlines and officials have been looking for ways to use the digital vaccine or health passport to help stimulate travel and ultimately replace travel restrictions. The European Union last week proposed a digital health certificate with a QR code containing the results of the vaccine and Covid-19 tests.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told NBC Nightly News last week that he expects digital vaccine passports to be needed for international travel.
The White House declined to comment and noted a recommendation against trips that CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky made Monday.
“Now is not the time to travel,” he said at a news conference.
“We’re concerned not only about what happens when it’s on the plane itself, but about what happens when people travel, that is, they go out, they mix, they mix with people who aren’t vaccinated,” he said.