Foreign visitors to the US will need to be fully-vaccinated under Biden's plans

5 August 2021, 06:22

All foreign visitors to the US will need to be fully vaccinated, with some limited exceptions, under Joe Biden's plans.

Travel has been severely restricted as the Government cited the spread of the delta variant of coronavirus.

Non-US residents who have been in the UK within 14 days of attempting to enter the US are banned.

The same applies for non-US residents who spent the last two weeks in China, the European Schengen area, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India.

But with the US looking to relax measures on visitors, a White House official – speaking on condition of anonymity – said eventually all foreign citizens will need to be vaccinated against Covid, with some exceptions.

Read more: US issues 'do not travel' warning for UK as Covid-19 cases rise

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The air travel industry and families separated by the existing rules have put pressure on the Biden administration to ease up the restrictions.

A trade group representing major US air travel companies, Airlines for America, said it was pleased by reports that it will become easier for foreign visitors to enter the US.

The UK Government, which was encouraged by its own travel sector to make transatlantic travel viable again, now allows people fully vaccinated in the US and EU to arrive without quarantining.

France was exempt from this amid concerns about the beta variant but from Sunday the requirement to quarantine will also fall away for fully jabbed people.