The Biden administration announced Monday it would end the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for international travelers on May 11, the same day as the public health emergency is set to expire.
The White House argued that the end of the mandate is due to being “in a different phase of our response to COVID-19 than we were when many of these requirements were put into place.”
President Joe Biden implemented an overarching ban on unvaccinated noncitizens from entering the U.S. by air in October of 2021, with some exceptions.
At the time, the president argued that such a ban would “aim to limit the risk that COVID-19, including variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, is introduced, transmitted, and spread into and throughout the United States, potentially overwhelming United States healthcare and public health resources, endangering the health and safety of the American people, and threatening the security of our civil aviation system.”
The COVID-19 vaccine requirement is also set to expire on the same date for federal employees and federal contractors, the White House said in a statement.
“Additionally, HHS and DHS announced today that they will start the process to end their vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border. In the coming days, further details related to ending these requirements will be provided,” the statement added.
Health care sponsors will no longer be required to cover services relating to COVID-19 like at-home tests after the end of the public health emergency, according to the Department of Labor. (RELATED: Biden Sets Date To End COVID Emergency)
Republican lawmakers attempted to end the public health emergency (PHE) earlier, but the White House argued that ending the PHE immediately would cause “chaos,” particularly with the expiration of Title 42, which is set to expire with the emergency.
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National Guard agents monitor the banks of the Rio Grande on the border between El Paso, Texas state, United States, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on December 28, 2022. (Photo by HERIKA MARTINEZ / AFP) (Photo by HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden signed a Republican-led bill to end the national COVID-19 emergency on April 10.