US plans to vote to end Covid vaccine obligation for foreign air travelers

The House of Representatives of USA is scheduled to vote next week on a bill that would end the requirement that most foreign air travelers need to be vaccinated against the Covid-19Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Friday.

The government of Joe Biden In June, it abolished the requirement that people arriving in the country by air must give negative tests for Covid-19but it has not eliminated the vaccination requirements of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Currently, adult visitors to the United States, who are not citizens or permanent residents, must present proof of vaccination before boarding their flight, with some limited exceptions.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduced the measure to waive the vaccination requirement. “The CDC’s unscientific mandate is separating too many people from their families and has been doing so for too long. It has to end,” he tweeted.

The CDC affirms that vaccinations remain the most important public health tool in combating Covid-19 and recommends that all travelers get vaccinated. The CDC had no comment Friday.

The United States Travel Association said Thursday that it has “long supported removing this requirement and sees no reason to wait until the public health emergency expires in May – especially when potential visitors are planning travel.” spring and summer.”

The group claims that the United States “is the only country that continues to maintain this requirement for international visitors when there is no longer any public health justification.”

Mask requirements on planes were relaxed last year after a judge ruled them illegal.

But in December, the United States made it mandatory for most travelers from China to test negative for Covid-19, as Covid infections soared there.