The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Thursday that travelers to the United States only need to bring a bivalent COVID vaccination from Pfizer, or Moderna, to enter the nation.
Many other countries have already relaxed their vaccination requirements.
The CDC said that because some records of traveler vaccinations may not indicate whether the doses of Moderna and Pfizer received in the past were bivalent or not, anyone with a record of a Moderna or Pfizer single dose issued after August 16, 2020 will meet the requirements. This is when the first bivalent vaccines became available.
CBS News reports that the CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration have changed the vaccination schedule to allow unvaccinated Americans to be considered fully vaccinated by receiving only one dose of bivalent influenza vaccine.
A second federal agency, U.S.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, , announced, that healthcare workers will be considered “fully vaccinated”, with just one bivalent dose.
CBS News reports that travel industry officials expect the requirement for vaccinations to be completely eliminated.
The Transportation Security Administration has extended the requirement until May 11, 2019.
CBS News reports that a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services has said that there is no update regarding the requirement.
More Information
The World Health Organization has about COVID-19.
SOURCE CBS News
