A 19-month ban on non-essential travel between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada due to COVID-19 will come to an end in early November for fully vaccinated travelers.
The new rules, to be fully announced later today, will allow foreign nationals to enter the U.S. regardless of the reason for travel starting in early November – when a similar easing of restrictions is set to kick in for air travel. Essential travelers, such as truck drivers, will need to be fully vaccinated by mid-January under the plans.
It signals a growing approval from the Biden administration of strict vaccine mandates – wanting Americans and foreign nationals to prove their status in workplaces as well as when traveling abroad. State legislators, most notably in Texas, have been attempting to block any such moves but were attacked by the White House yesterday as going “against all public health information”, reaffirming that any state-wide attempts could be overruled by federal law.
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Biden pushes on vaccination as key to ‘accelerate the path out of the pandemic’
Ahead of the full announcement on vaccine mandates on land borders later today, the president has once again urged all Americans to get fully vaccinated against COVID.
In a tweet, he boasted of his “plan to accelerate the path out of the pandemic” but said its success hinged on people complying with the recommendation to get both shots.
Folks, it’s been a month since I laid out my plan to accelerate the path out of this pandemic. We’ve made real progress, but we still have a long way to go.
There’s no better way to beat this pandemic than to get the vast majority of Americans vaccinated. It’s as simple as that.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 12, 2021
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The news of easing land border restrictions will be positive news for many – especially those in Mexico and Canada with friends and relatives in the U.S. – but a domestic battle over vaccine mandates continues to rage.
Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Wednesday for all the latest.
