U.S. President Joe Biden signed an order on Monday imposing new vaccine requirements for most foreign nationals traveling to the United States by air.
The White House said the new orders shall be effective on November 8.
The travel restrictions were first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of COVID-19. Those rules banned most non-U.S. citizens who within the last 14 days have been in the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen countries in Europe without border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran, and Brazil.
"It is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions previously applied during the COVID-19 pandemic and to adopt an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the United States," Biden's proclamation says.
Children under 18 are exempted from the new vaccine requirements as well as people with some medical issues, according to the White House's statement.
Also, non-tourist travelers from about 50 countries with nationwide vaccination rates of less than 10% will also be eligible for exemption from the rules.
In this sense, those receiving an exemption shall get vaccinated if they intend to remain in the United States for more than 60 days.
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