US lifts corona vaccination obligation for foreigners

For about a year and a half, foreigners have only been allowed to enter the United States after they have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus using internationally recognized preparations. The US government introduced mandatory vaccination in November 2021 to slow the spread of the virus.

The White House has now said that hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus have each fallen by more than 90 percent since January 2021. The number of corona deaths worldwide is at its lowest level since the start of the pandemic. The country is now “in a different phase” than when the corona measures were introduced. Vaccination is now also being abolished for federal employees and other groups.

At the start of the corona pandemic in March 2020, then US President Donald Trump even issued an entry ban for foreigners from large parts of Europe. Entry from the Schengen area, Great Britain and Ireland was prohibited with a few exceptions. The US also imposed extensive entry bans on foreigners from India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Iran because of the pandemic and enforced them for a long time. (sda/dpa)