The US will relax restrictions for vaccinated travelers from the EU and UK
- The US is relaxing its travel restrictions for people from the EU and UK, three people with knowledge of the relaxed restrictions told the Financial Times.
- The new policy will allow vaccinated people from the EU and UK to travel to the US starting in November.
- The Biden administration will reportedly announce the new policy on Monday.
The United States is relaxing its travel restrictions for people from the European Union and the United Kingdom who are vaccinated against COVID-19.
The policy change will allow vaccinated people from the UK and EU to travel to the US starting in November, three people with knowledge of the relaxed restrictions told the Financial Times.
Currently, only US citizens and their immediate families, green card holders, and some travelers with special exemptions can come to the States if they've been in the UK or EU within 14 days before travel.
The US also bars most noncitizens coming from China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, and India, who will not be affected by the upcoming policy change.
The Biden administration is set to announce the new policy on Monday, the sources told the Financial Times.
President Biden signed the proclamation suspending travel to the US from 28 European countries in January 2021, when the Alpha variant was circulating in the UK. As new variants of the coronavirus emerged, the administration kept the policy in place and added additional restrictions on travel from other countries.
The highly infectious Delta variant has become dominant in the US, the UK, and other countries around the world. The variant has been known to infect some people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, resulting in cases that are relatively mild but do pose a transmission risk.
Early data suggests vaccinated people who get COVID-19 tend to be less infectious than unvaccinated patients, and they typically clear the virus quicker. Multiple public health experts have said vaccination is the key to beating Delta and the coronavirus pandemic as a whole.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.