Last month, as Open Jaw reported, the Biden administration said it was considering a vaccine mandate for international arrivals into the U.S.
Now comes word from the White House that it’s planning a “new system for international travel” into the country - and that it will include contact tracing.
Reuters reports White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients made remarks during a press briefing at the White House Wednesday.
In 2020, the Trump administration blocked a push to mandate that airlines collect contact tracing information from international pax travelling to the U.S.
During the briefing, Zients said the current Biden administration is taking a different stance. “The new system will include collecting contact tracing data from passengers traveling into the United States to enable the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to contact travelers if exposed to COVID-19.”
In addition, Zients confirmed, "We are exploring considering vaccination requirements for foreign nationals traveling to the United States."
However, officials gave no indication the U.S. would reopen its borders anytime soon. They pegged reopening to international arrivals to U.S. domestic vaccination levels.
At the same press briefing, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that the spike in COVID-19 cases is holding up an easing on entry restrictions. "We want to move to a metrics-based system," Raimondo said. "Before we can do that, we have to get a better handle on the domestic situation, which requires us to get everyone vaccinated."
Zients said the new, system-in-the-works would replace current border restrictions - eventually. And that the government wants it to be “ready to press go on” when it is deemed safe to reopen its borders.
"The American people need to trust that the new system for international travel is safer even as we - I mean at that point - we'll be letting in more travelers," he said.
He said that the American government does want to reopen its borders “as soon as we can,” but that, "vaccination rates matter here at home and other countries," Zients said.
To bolster that outcome, he urged U.S. travel companies to mandate worker vaccinations, but unlike the Canadian government, gave no indication the American government would make it mandatory.
According to Reuters, “some industry officials fear the Biden administration may not lift travel restrictions for months or potentially until 2022.”
