Travelers flying to the United States will still need proof of Covid vaccination until at least April as officials persist with failed pandemic policies.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) quietly extended the requirement, which was set to expire this weekend, until April 10.
That means all non-US citizens still have to prove they’ve received at least two doses of the vaccine — or an accepted single-dose injection like Johnson and Johnson’s.
The move makes America an outlier in the West, where most countries abandoned so-called “vaccination passports” months ago when they failed to keep infections low.
There is growing concern that harmful Covid policies are creeping back into American life. Hundreds of thousands of students have been forced to wear face masks in class this week as schools scale back assignments.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) quietly extended the requirement, which was set to expire this weekend, until April 10.
The TSA claimed last week that the policy is aimed at protecting US citizens and preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed
As the graph above shows, the introduction of a traveller’s vaccination card on 8 November 2021 did not stop the influx of Omicron variant Covid cases in the winter of last year
An emergency amendment slipped through the TSA last week claims the policy aims to protect US citizens and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
It was first introduced in November 2021 during the Omicron wave, which sent infection rates soaring worldwide as dozens of countries introduced similar restrictions.
However, experts have increasingly accepted that Covid vaccines – while extremely effective at preventing serious illness – are not very good at stopping infection.
WHO warns that XBB.1.5 is the ‘most transmissible’ Covid variant yet
The Covid strain is spreading rapidly in the US and is responsible for up to 70% of infections.
Almost all European countries, including the United Kingdom, scrapped the measure. Only a handful of countries have retained them, mostly in the Middle East and Africa.
The TSA document states: “Together with the Presidential Proclamation and CDC Order, this policy is intended to introduce the risk of Covid-19, including variants of the virus that causes Covid-19, in and through the United States of America , transmit and spread. which could overwhelm the health and public health systems in the United States, endanger the health and safety of the American people, and threaten the safety of our civil aviation system.”
The most effective Covid injections – such as those from Moderna and Pfizer – are estimated to offer up to 90 per cent protection against death in the months following vaccination.
However, due to the rapid mutation of the virus in recent years, it is difficult to know exactly how effective the injections are.
Experts agree that regardless of the number, the vaccines have had tremendous protective effects, saving an estimated 3 million American lives and preventing 19 million hospital admissions.
But the shots are significantly less effective at stopping transmission, reducing effectiveness to below 30 percent three months after immunization.
DR Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), admitted last year that the shots “can no longer prevent transmission.”
The Biden administration last June dropped a requirement for international travelers to the United States to test negative for Covid, but appears unwilling to cave in to the gunfire.
Technically, this means that people can fly to the US even if they test positive for the virus – as long as they have been vaccinated.
The US announced last week that all passengers coming from China must then show a negative test to keep out new variants.
China abruptly ended its zero-Covid policy in December, triggering an explosive wave that overwhelmed crematoria and reportedly caused hundreds of millions of infections in a matter of weeks.
But the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that it is actually a variant of Covid spreading in the US that is of greatest concern.
XBB.1.5 — another Omicron addition — is behind about 70 percent of new infections in the hardest-hit parts of the U.S. and four in 10 nationwide.
It has spread rapidly in recent weeks, accounting for just four percent of US cases in early December, suggesting it has a major growth advantage over competing strains.
XBB.1.5 is spreading much faster in the US than anywhere else. In the UK, for example, only 1 in 20 had their rootstock fall off.
DR Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical director for Covid, told a news conference on Wednesday: “We are concerned about the potential for growth, especially in some countries in Europe and in the US … especially in the Northeastern United States, where XBB .1.5 quickly replaced other circulating variants.
“Our concern is how transmissible it is … and the more this virus circulates, the more likely it is to change.”
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
