US opens border to fully vaccinated int'l travellers
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Nov, 2021 11:50 AM
New York, Nov 9 (IANS) The US has opened it doors to fully vaccinated international travellers, welcoming the visitors who have been shut out of the country for about 20 months, which is seen as a relief for the tourism industry and for families separated by previous Covid-19 rules.
International flight arrivals are expected to rise 11 per cent on Monday over a similar day in October at Newark Liberty and John F. Kennedy international airports, with 253 flights scheduled to arrive, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Xinhua news agency reported.
Airline executives have said bookings have surged since the Joe Biden administration said it would lift the restrictions. "Shares of United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines were each up more than 1 per cent in morning trading. Those carriers have the most international service of the U.S. airlines and stand to benefit from the resumption of US-bound travel," reported CNBC.
The ban, put in place by former US President Donald Trump in early 2020 and expanded by President Joe Biden early this year, prohibited visitors from 33 countries, including Britain, much of Europe, China, Brazil and South Africa.
Now, visitors can fly into the United States with proof of full COVID-19 vaccination. Documentation can be shown as a paper certificate, a photo of the document or a digitized version. There are exemptions for travellers under age 18 and passengers from countries with low vaccination availability.
Accepted vaccines are those approved or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and those listed for use by the World Health Organization: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
The United States will also require proof of a negative Covid-19 test from within the past three days for all vaccinated travellers. The country has required that since January for all arrivals, including US citizens. If a traveller is not vaccinated, the Covid-19 test must have been taken from within one day of departure.
For the first time since assuming office in 2004, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong led some 40,000 devotees and four ministers at a 164-year-old Hindu temple's reconsecration ceremony here, following the completion of its SGD 4.5 million restoration work.
The British government is under growing pressure to take action against protesters behind the desecration of the Indian flag at Parliament Square in London during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UK visit last week.
China on Friday backed its all-weather ally Pakistan and called on the international community to support its counter-terrorism efforts after Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the neighbouring country as a “terror export factory”.
91-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, the Head of the Commonwealth, said it was her "sincere wish" that Prince Charles takes over "one day", as she opened the two-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London, also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
