A blanket requirement for all international travelers to the United States to be vaccinated against Covid-19 would be a "step back" in restarting the travel industry, the U.S. Travel Association said in a statement on Thursday.
The statement followed a report on Wednesday that the Biden administration was working on a phased reopening that would include a requirement for nearly all foreign visitors to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. U.S. Travel VP of public affairs and policy Tori Emerson Barnes said the reported plan was an "important first step" to restoring travel from countries where visitors currently are banned from coming to the United States, including the United Kingdom and the European Union. However, she urged the administration not to extend a vaccine requirement to countries not currently covered by the ban, from which visitors can enter with a negative Covid-19 test regardless of vaccine status.
"We urge the administration to advance this plan for [restricted] countries and set a reopening date as quickly as possible, especially as the U.K., much of the E.U. and Canada have all taken recent similar steps to reopen their borders to vaccinated travelers and rebuild their economies," she said.