New York, November 9 (BNA) The United States said it is inviting the international community to visit now that the government has ended the ban on travelers from 33 countries.
However, in reality, it will still be difficult – if not impossible – for much of the world to get into the country and experts say it will take years for travel to fully recover.
For starters, half of the world is not vaccinated, and therefore does not meet US requirements for visiting foreigners. So, while many Europeans may now be able to come, people from poor countries where vaccines are scarce remain cut off, with limited exceptions.
For some public health experts, that raises ethical questions about policy.
“The concern does not limit access based on vaccination status,” said Nancy Cass, deputy director of public health at Johns Hopkins University’s Berman Institute of Bioethics.
“It systematically makes it impossible for people, generally from poor countries, whose governments have not been able to secure anything near the supplies they need, to be able to come to see their loved ones.”
Even if you do get a jab, it may not be good enough. Nonimmigrant adults must have received vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration or that have received an emergency use list from the World Health Organization, or they will also be prohibited from entering the United States
Then there are delays of months in some places to get a visa. The American Travel Association says that, on average, there is a six-month delay in visitor visa appointments, as many US consulates and embassies have not yet resumed normal business. Meanwhile, other countries have their own strict rules, which complicate travel abroad.
Experts predict a wave of travelers at US airports, which will go a long way to boosting the industry in general. The American Travel Association said the 28 European countries that were banned as of Monday under the US policy accounted for 37% of foreign visitors in 2019.
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