World

Biden Administration Announces ‘New International Air Travel System’ With Vaccine, Testing Requirements

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Shelby Talcott Senior White House Correspondent
Font Size:

President Joe Biden’s administration announced new guidelines for all international travel Monday, including a new upcoming vaccine requirement for foreign nationals flying to America.

A White House official hinted at the changes last week, saying that the administration was in the midst of developing a “new international air travel system,” Reuters reported at the time. White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients laid out the new system on Monday, describing it as being “much stricter.”

Beginning early November, all foreign nationals flying to the U.S. will be required to be fully vaccinated and must show proof of vaccination prior to boarding a U.S.-bound aircraft, Zients said. This “new system for international travel” will replace the current rules, which bar foreign nationals from traveling to the U.S. if they’ve been in certain parts of the world within the last 14 days.

The U.K., Brazil, China, Iran, India and South Africa are currently on that list. As of early November, vaccinated people from those countries will be allowed to enter the U.S. upon compliance with the various testing and proof of vaccination rules, Zients confirmed.

“In early November, we will move to this much stricter global system. So we will have consistent approach across all countries. It will require foreign nationals to be vaccinated, to prove they’re vaccinated and then to go through the testing and contact tracing regimes,” Zients said.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 19: A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent screens an airline passenger at O'Hare International Airport on October 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Yesterday the TSA reported that it had screened over 1 million passengers, representing the highest number of passengers screened at TSA checkpoints since March 17, 2020. During the week ending October 18, TSA screened 6.1 million passengers nationwide, the highest total since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – OCTOBER 19: A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent screens an airline passenger at O’Hare International Airport on October 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Yesterday the TSA reported that it had screened over 1 million passengers, representing the highest number of passengers screened at TSA checkpoints since March 17, 2020.(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The administration also announced enhanced testing and contract tracing systems. For fully vaccinated Americans, testing will be required within three days of traveling. Unvaccinated Americans returning to the U.S. will need to take a test within one day of departure plus a test after arriving, according to Zients.

In terms of contract tracing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to get a contract tracing order from every U.S.-bound traveler. Zients said this order will ask for a phone number and email for every traveler coming to the U.S., allowing the CDC and local health officials to follow up in the event of exposure.

The administration previously announced enhanced masking requirements for air travel. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said in early September it would be doubling fines for Americans who don’t comply with mask mandates aboard aircrafts and in airports.

First offenders now face at least a $500 fine and up to $1,000, according to the agency. Additional offenses could cost Americans between $1,000 and $3,000. (RELATED: Biden Admin Says It Will Require Private Companies With 100+ Employees To Mandate Vaccine Or Test Weekly)

“It’s simple: Masking helps stop the spread of COVID-19. If you break the rules, be prepared for the consequences,” Zients said. “This new international travel system follows the science to keep Americans and international air travel safe. By requiring foreign nationals to be fully vaccinated in order to fly to the United States and implementing additional strict safety protocols, we will protect Americans here at home and enhance the safety off international travel.”

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel