Starting Jan. 22, individuals visiting the United States must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross land or seaport borders. U.S. citizens, nationals, and green card holders are exempt from the requirement.
Visitors will have to provide documentation and verbally attest that they have been fully vaccinated. Travelers can find a list of valid forms of documentation on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s website.
Since November, vaccination has been necessary for most of the nation’s visitors, the majority of whom come by air. Nonetheless, the requirement typically went unenforced for people entering by land or sea.
Only individuals from countries with meager vaccination rates were held to the requirement.
The lax enforcement eased workers’ ability to engage in cross-border commerce, allowing them to transport goods without having to repeatedly offer proof of complete vaccination.
That’s no longer the case. The updated policy affects all travelers, including essential workers.
Because most trade between Canada and the U.S. occurs over land, this might create longer wait times during border crossings.
When deciding whether someone’s vaccination status is valid, border authorities will rely on the U.S. CDC’s list of vaccines that have been approved for entry purposes. Approved vaccines include the following:
- Janssen/J&J
- Pfizer-BioNTech
- Moderna
- AstraZeneca
- Covaxin
- Covishield
- BIBP/Sinopharm
- Sinovac
- Novavax/Covovax
Visitors coming over land or through seaports will not, however, need to get tested upon arrival.
Throughout January, the U.S. has seen a drastic surge in cases of COVID-19. Over 800,000 new cases were reported on Jan. 21 alone.
Death rates are also rising, though more slowly.
The omicron variant’s unusual features probably explain why death rates aren’t soaring to match case rates; it’s the most contagious variant so far, but it seems to be significantly less deadly.