Most international visitors must be fully vaccinated, and some approved exceptions must quarantine for seven days after arrival. Children under 18 don’t need a vaccine if with vaccinated adults, but they’ll be tested for COVID once here. The CDC is still posting info to its website.

NEW YORK – Thomas Rowland and his wife have spent days scouring the internet for more information on the new U.S. air travel system that goes into effect in less than two weeks.

Rowland, of Stockholm, Sweden, made plans to celebrate his birthday with a trip to Florida on Nov. 8 with his wife and 5-year-old son. The family has been planning and saving up for the trip for years, and Rowland said his son hasn’t been able to stop talking about Disney World or the beach.

But after taking a look at the fine print on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, Rowland worried that he would have to postpone the vacation.

While the new travel rules laid out by the CDC say his son would be able to forgo the vaccination requirement since he is under 18, they also say all unvaccinated travelers will need to quarantine for seven days upon arrival.

“(It’s a) two and a half week vacation, so quarantine for seven days is not an option for us,” said Rowland, adding that he and his wife are fully vaccinated. “We’re fine with that, but we would like to know and get exact, clear information. To us, it hasn’t been that clear yet.”

He’s not the only traveler who was thrown off by the quarantine requirement. Travel forums and social media sites have been filled with travelers with unvaccinated kids wondering whether they’ll need to quarantine upon arrival.

Cindy Friedman, the CDC’s chief of the traveler’s health branch, said in a Tuesday news conference that unvaccinated children under 18 traveling with vaccinated adults will not need to quarantine but would still need to take a post-arrival test. That detail has yet to be laid out on the CDC’s website.

“We’re working on clarifying that in the Order,” CDC spokesperson Caitlin Shockey told USA TODAY. “It should be up later this week.”

Come Nov. 8, nearly all unvaccinated foreign nationals are going to have a hard time entering the United States.

Nearly all. There are exceptions.

While most foreign nationals who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents will need to show proof of full vaccination before boarding a flight to the U.S., travelers who are under 18, have had an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, or citizens of countries with limited access to COVID-19 vaccines are among a select group that will be allowed to enter the U.S. unvaccinated.

But there are trade-offs to avoiding the vaccine requirement: Unvaccinated foreign nationals face additional testing requirements and many will need to quarantine upon arrival. Failing to do so can result in penalties and fines.

Unvaccinated foreign nationals who can bypass the vaccine requirements to enter the U.S. must provide a document that details why they are exempt. The attestation document can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

Unless they have recovered from COVID-19 within the past 90 days, these travelers must agree to be tested with a COVID-19 viral test three to five days after their arrival and self-quarantine a full seven days, even if their post-arrival test comes back negative.

Friedman, a CDC official, said unvaccinated children can skip the quarantine mandate if they travel with vaccinated adults.

The U.S. will accept nucleic acid amplification tests, such as a PCR test or antigen tests. Unvaccinated travelers who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents must also agree to self-isolate if their post-arrival test is positive or if they develop COVID-19 symptoms.

“By filling out and signing the form, those excepted, unvaccinated travelers are attesting to making arrangements for post-arrival testing and self-quarantine,” Shockey told USA TODAY in an emailed statement.

Willfully falsifying this information can result in a maximum fine of $10,000 and/or up to five years of imprisonment.

Shockey said the form applies only to exempted foreign nationals entering the U.S.

Which travelers are exempt from the vaccine requirement?

Travelers under 18

Travelers under 18 do not need to be vaccinated to enter the U.S., but those 2 and older will still need to take a pre-departure coronavirus test. Children who are traveling with a fully vaccinated adult can test three days before departure, while kids traveling alone or with unvaccinated adults will need to get tested within one day of departure.

Unvaccinated children traveling with vaccinated adults do not need to quarantine, but they will need to take a second coronavirus test three to five days after arrival.

Medical contraindication to COVID-19 vaccination

History of a negative reaction to COVID-19 vaccines, such as an immediate or severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) after a previous dose or component of the COVID-19 vaccine, can exempt a traveler from the vaccine requirement.

These travelers will need to offer a signed letter from a licensed physician for airlines to review. This document can be submitted as a paper or digital copy, but must be signed and dated on official letterhead with the name, address and phone number of the physician and include details on the type of vaccine product received by the passenger and their medical condition. The letter must also include the passenger’s full name and date of birth.

The CDC says objections to the vaccination based on religious or moral convictions do not qualify for an exemption.

Airlines can require a medical consultation by a third party at their own discretion.

Which countries have limited availability to COVID-19 vaccines?

Unvaccinated travelers living in nations with limited vaccine availability can enter the country, so long as they have a passport and a nonimmigrant visa that is not a B-1 business visa or B-2 tourism visa.

As of Oct. 27, the countries the CDC considers to have limited COVID-19 vaccine availability (less than 10% of its population vaccinated):

  • Afghanistan
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Armenia
  • Benin
  • Burundi
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Congo
  • Cote d’Ivoire Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Djibouti
  • Egypt
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Haiti
  • Iraq
  • Kenya
  • Kiribati
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar
  • Namibia
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Senegal
  • Sierra Leone
  • Solomon Islands
  • Somalia
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Syrian Arab Republic
  • Togo
  • Uganda
  • United Republic of Tanzania
  • Vanuatu
  • Yemen
  • Zambia

Vaccine trial participants

Travelers who are participating in certain COVID-19 vaccine trials won’t have to show proof of vaccination to enter the U.S. These travelers will need to prove their involvement in the trial with official documentation, such as a clinical trial letter, participant card or modified vaccination card.

The documents must include the name of the vaccine product and the date it was received, and show that the traveler has received a full series of a non-placebo COVID-19 qualifying vaccine candidate or a vaccine emergency use listed by the World Health Organization. The trial must be in or past the third phase with one of 12 qualifying vaccine candidates:

  • AstraZeneca
  • Bharat Biotech, India
  • CanSinoBIO
  • Clover Biopharmaceuticals
  • Johnson and Johnson/Janssen
  • Moderna Biotech
  • Novavax
  • Pfizer-BioNTech
  • Serum Institute of India (Covishield)
  • Serum Institute of India (Covovax)
  • Sinopharm/BIBP
  • Sinovac

Humanitarian or emergency exception

Unvaccinated passengers with an official U.S. government letter saying they are exempt for humanitarian or emergency reasons can enter the country by air.

Members of the U.S. armed forces, their spouses

Unvaccinated travelers with a U.S. military identification document that shows their status as a member of the armed forces are exempt from the vaccine requirements, along with their spouses.

Sea crew members with C-1 or D visas

Airline and aircraft operators traveling under a nonimmigrant visa with an official letter from their employer showing that their trip to the U.S. is required to operate a vessel departing from a U.S. seaport will be exempt from the vaccine requirements.

U.S. national interest exemption

Travelers can be exempt from the vaccine requirements with an official U.S. government letter.

What are the exemptions to the testing requirement?

There will also be testing accommodations for travelers who can prove they recently recovered from the coronavirus. These travelers will need to show a positive COVID-19 viral test result on a sample taken no more than 90 days before their flight’s departure and a letter from a licensed health care provider or public health official saying they are cleared for travel.

Copyright 2021, USATODAY.com, USA TODAY

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Author: kerrys