WASHINGTON 2nd MAY 2023 (WAM). The United States will stop requiring international travellers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on May 11 when the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus ends. Reuters reported the White House saying this on Monday.

The US House of Representatives lifted the requirement in February that all foreign air travelers be immunized against COVID-19. This was one of the last remaining travel restrictions for pandemics.

Last June, the Biden administration dropped its requirement for people arriving by air in the US to test negative for COVID. However, it kept the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) requirements for vaccination for most foreign travelers.

Homeland Security Department said that, as of Monday, May 12, it will not require non-US travelers entering the United States through land ports of entry or ferries be immunized against COVID-19. They must also provide proof of vaccination on request.

After a series court rulings, the Biden administration’s September 2021 rules that required about 3.5 millions federal employees and contractors be vaccinated in order to avoid termination or disciplinary actions have not been implemented for more than a year.

In March, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that blocked the enforcement of employee vaccination requirements.

In October 2022, the White House instructed federal agencies not to enforce contractor vaccination requirements after a nationwide ban was lifted.

The Health and Human Services Department announced that it would begin the process of ending vaccination requirements for Head Start teachers and government-certified health care facilities.