- Six vaccines that are FDA authorized/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the US.
- The CDC’s comments come weeks after the White House said it would lift air-travel restrictions from 33 nations.
- The CDC also confirmed it had informed various airlines of the approved list of COVID-19 jabs.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesperson said that any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) will be permitted for foreign visitors traveling to the United States.
“Six vaccines that are FDA authorized/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the US,” a CDC spokesperson said, according to news sources.
Immunizations developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are currently approved in the US – the latter two on emergency-use basis only – while the WHO has backed jabs from AstraZeneca/Oxford, Sinopharm and Sinovac in addition to the three already named.
The CDC’s comments come weeks after the White House said it would lift air-travel restrictions from 33 nations, initially imposed to stem the spread of COVID-19, sometime in November. However, at the time, it did not specify which immunizations would qualify.
Later on Friday, the CDC also confirmed it had informed various airlines of the approved list of jabs, adding that the health agency would “release additional guidance and information as the travel requirements are finalized.”
A body representing a number of air carriers, Airlines for America, confirmed that claim, saying it was “pleased by the CDC’s decision to approve a list of authorized vaccinations for travelers entering the US.”
