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Aircraft at Newark Airport in the US state of New Jersey (archive image)
Photo: Chris Helgren / REUTERS
Currently, the US external borders are still closed to the vast majority of international travelers.
That could change in the medium term, but with one major caveat.
The US plans to reopen its borders only to fully vaccinated visitors.
Washington is developing "a phased approach that, over time, will mean that foreign nationals traveling to the United States - from any country - must be fully vaccinated," a White House official said Wednesday.
There will be "limited exceptions".
The official did not give a time frame.
The working groups dealing with this issue "develop a policy to be able to switch to this new system in due course".
The practical implementation of the plan also seems relatively unclear.
This also applies to the question of which vaccination certificates should be recognized.
In addition, according to US media reports, it has not yet been decided whether the authorities would only accept vaccinations with preparations that are also approved in the USA.
It was only at the end of July that White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki emphasized that the entry restrictions imposed on travelers from Europe and other countries would not be lifted for the time being.
As a justification, she referred to the fact that the more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading “both here and abroad”.
Entry into the EU is possible again
The US had restricted entry for citizens of the EU, Great Britain, China and Iran over a year ago.
Other countries were added later, including Brazil and India.
Exceptions to the US entry ban apply to students, journalists and business people, among others.
The EU lifted its entry restrictions for US citizens in June and urged the US government to follow suit.
The economy and couples separated by the regulations are also calling for the US entry ban to be lifted.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had called for a repeal during her visit to Washington in mid-July.
President Joe Biden promised a quick review of the regulations.
In June, the number of new infections in the US had dropped to an average of around 10,000 per day.
Since then, however, this value has risen again to an average of 80,000 per day due to the particularly contagious delta variant.
Biden's interim goal with vaccinations has been achieved
It is above all the countries with a low vaccination rate that are responsible for the majority of new infections.
US President Biden had recently picked up on this connection - and attacked some Republican governors for their corona policy.
"If you're not helping, at least avoid people who are trying to do the right thing," Biden said on Tuesday.
In some states, the mask requirement is forbidden in schools, complained Biden.
In Texas, universities could even be fined for teachers asking unvaccinated students to wear a mask.
In the US, according to the CDC, 70 percent of all adults have been vaccinated at least once.
Almost half of all Americans (49.7 percent) have received two vaccinations.
US President Joe Biden announced in March that by Independence Day - July 4th - 70 percent of American adults would have received at least one injection.
This goal has now been achieved with a delay of around one month.
jok / AFP