The U.S. is targeting mid-May for lifting border restrictions in order to allow land crossings from Canada and Mexico, and international flights from the U.K., Europe and Brazil.
The Trump administration was preparing to lifts its ban on travel from Europe back in November, and then announced the ban on travel from the U.K., Europe and Brazil would be lifted effective January 26 – six days into President Biden’s term. Biden reversed that decision.
Now the Biden administration will be revisiting its border restrictions weekly, evaluating how the risk of new variants (already spreading wildly in the U.S. especially B.1.1.7) and protection from vaccines. U.S. airlines have been lobbying for restrictions to lift, and Doug Parker told employees last week that President Biden wants to encourage travel but is being cautious.
The Biden administration is looking toward the middle of May to relax restrictions on travel across the borders with Mexico and Canada and on inbound international travel from the UK, Europe and Brazil, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
…”There is going to be a sea change in mid-May when vaccines are more widely available to everyone,” according to one senior administration official.
One complication is that the U.S. and Canada have been closing the shared land border in unison, and insistence of doing so has been driven on the Canadian side.
It appears that the U.S. is not considering lifting travel bans on non-citizens who have been to China or Iran in the prior two weeks, even though China has had the pandemic largely under control (and certainly compared to the U.S.) for a year. Keeping those bans in place, unrelated to spread of the virus, would represent an intriguing continuing of Trump foreign policy stances for the Biden administration.
This is pretty stupid, and I say that as a Biden voter, banning China while opening to Brazil is just beyond stupid.
I wonder if this will be a one-sided opening of the norther border.
I just cant see Trudeau (and more importantly our dumb premiers of Ontario and Quebec) going for this in May
The border with Canada should be closed. Now, Canadians can enter. Reciprocity is needed.
Canada is really a bully. It deems essential travel as non-essential and some non-essential travel as essential. This is because Justin Trudeau is an idiot, almost as bad as Trump.
If you fly to the US you cannot get in even if you have a visa and is vaccinated but if you just walk across the border anyone is welcome (even with Covid) and they will offer you free healthcare and a path to citizenship long as you vote Democrat. I think that is part of the Green Deal since flying in is too carbon intensive but walking saves the planet.
@detek
As a us citizen living in canada I agree, trudeau is useless
But the best way to get back at trudeau would be to OPEN unilaterally the land border so all canadians can cross and then canada will have no choice but to open the border
@pagunco
Incorrect
Any canadian can fly to the usa, just need pcr test
Travel bans are absurd, cruel, and immoral, and no reason to continue to forbit travel from China, which has been back to normal for around a year already. Really absurd and Biden’s continuation of the Chinese travel ban is no less racist than Trump’s institution of it and rather callous to play politics with people’s lives and prevent them from traveling to the US for school, to see family, or conduct business. More proof that Biden is Trump 2.0.
@mak
Nobody wants spitting tourists around
Not a chance in heck that Brazil will be lifted in May. Most of my friends there do not expect vaccinations until September earliest. I will bet late October before see Brazilians coming in.
@Stuart: you are very wrong. I have family in Brazil. Vaccines are not only been distributed all over but produced in the country (Astra Zeneca and Coronavac are produced in Brazil). Thus, they are on the same pace as US but the country has logistical challenges (country is bigger than the US if you do not include Alaska) and moving vaccine there is not as simple as in the US. Actually, lots of my family members were already vaccinated. Don’t read from the wrong sources.
Vaccinations aside things are not good in Brazil right now.
https://portal.fiocruz.br/en/news/covid-19-observatory-points-biggest-health-system-collapse-history-brazil?
@Gary: Many difference factors why things are bad there. I could write for hours but to summarize:
– Politics: similar to here, lockdown/no lockdown, masks/no masks;
– Culture: good luck asking Brazilians to follow any orders;
– Weather: it is summer in Brazil. Temperatures get easier above 100F. Houses have no AC. How do you ask people to stay inside?
– Economy: many people in Brazil are poor. They rely on public transportation. They need to work. They have to shop for food. No. Lockdowns won’t work because people won’t follow. BTW, the rich keeps partying so nobody cares.
The reason for continuing w/ the China ban is 1. because the world still doesn’t really know what is going on inside China w/ covid because they wont’share data and 2. their vaccine has not been suggested to western review. Note that the acceptable review in Iceland (just announced) does not allow the Chinese vaccine.
The situation in Brazil is indeed very sad right now.
I am a Canadian living in California.
My dad passed away the past year (non covid) and my mom has cancer. The border is not based on science like trudeau wants to make people believe. It’s the punitive approach due to a lot of politicians traveling outside the country while telling Canadians not to travel. Canadians are a pragmatic blunt folk….so otherwise most Canadians would have accelerated thier travels. (If they feel it’s safe to travel then I should be fine).
A PCR only came in when the provinces needed to blame others and pivot off thier own scandals. Then of course the three day hotel stay.
It’s against Canadian charter. It’s not based in reducing spread. (They admitted as such).
Hawaii is PcR only. They have been flawless in staying open but allowing travel. Canada should be no different. But of course politics.
The Biden Administration is a cautious administration that sticks to Biden’s traditional (ie old) views about what serves the US’s national interests. Just look at how Biden is willing to call out Russia’s Putin as a killer this week, but how he refuses to do much of anything to offend the murderous Saudi crown prince hoping to tip the US into another war for the Saudis’ presumed benefit. Then see how he is trying to avoid rocking the boat with an increasingly authoritarian India because of the need for India as part of an anti-China coalition. So in that vein, he’s inclined to open up the US to closer ties with what he assumes are still US allies in the way they were during the Obama and GW Bush Admin.
I was a Biden voter in 2020 and am a Biden supporter, but that kind of background is no good reason to ignore, downplay or deny the facts about how this Admin operates.
@Santastico In fact I have a second home in Brazil and very much in tune with the current state. You are wrong. Yes, Astra Zeneca is available to a very small percentage of the population, most of whom are wealthy and able to pay up the premium to get it. If they can find it. Let’s not even talk about the fact that it’s the least you effective of all. Coronavac is relying only China and while may be effective has not gone through the same global testing. Further, it’s hardly available and won’t be for months as Bolsonaro has done little to secure any doses. The best bet is Pfizer and Brazil (finally) just secured 100m doses that may come this summer (our summer). Your family is dreaming. It’s a mess there thanks to poor leadership and a President who says, “if you get vaccinated it’s not my fault if you turn into an alligator.”
@Stuart: what a bunch of BS!! You may have a house there but not family. At least in Sao Paulo state noboy is paying anything to get vaccines. It started by age and it is coming down by age like here. Everyone in my family that is 65 and older got vaccinated and they did not pay a penny. All they had to do was to show their ID to prove age and a utility bill to prove residency in the town. I know people very poor that is very close to my family that got vaccinated. Before you tell anything about Brazil you better have family there to validate what you say. Now, if your home is in the Amazon than it might be different.
@santastico
if you live in Brazil, then you should be able to read the vaccination statistics here
https://www.folha.uol.com.br/
Brazil has nowhere near the number of vaccines now or in the next 3 months to put a dent in the record high number of deaths and new cases.
I support reopening much of the world but it is not at all realistic to think that Brazil will be in a position to rejoin the global aviation community before the 2nd half of the year at the earliest.
and there are alot of Brazilians that managed to get vaccines in Florida when they were here over their summer break.
Agreed that Trudeau is a naive idiot. Closed the border with the US… but now US is way ahead of Canada in its vaccination campaign and suddenly the tables are turned… But will that change the popular Canadian paranoia?… Probably not.
Biden “graciously” has loaned Canada and Mexico a couple million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine which the US holds but which aren’t even approved for use in the US.
Santastico, how could you be a Bolsonaro lover? He is a genocide, corrupt and so stupid!
My mother from Rio has 74 years old and not had vaccine yet…
Brazil ban will be lifted. Why? Because most of them travel to Florida. 90% of Americans, including our federal leaders, would do anything to make Florida look bad.
This is the best news a have Hurd in 15 months as my Fiance In Ohio have kept are loving relationships going with video chat and dreaming of more time together. Get my second Covid jab on the 18th may and my partner is getting her jab next week. So we keeping are fingers crossed and we are doing all to keep are selfs clear …