US to require most foreign travellers to be vaccinated for entry, says source

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] The US will require that most adult foreigners be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter the country as part of a plan to ease some pandemic travel restrictions, said a source.

The measures, to be announced by President Joe Biden's administration on Monday, amount to a sweeping reform of strict entry rules imposed on visitors to the US to try to curb the spread of the virus. The person asked not to be identified ahead of the announcement.

The new rules will take effect in November, said Financial Times, which reported the changes earlier, citing sources.

The US will also relax entry rules for vaccinated travellers from the UK and the European Union, a measure that will spur a rebound in trans-Atlantic travel. The move is a significant easing of pandemic travel restrictions that Mr Biden held in place as infections spread throughout the country this summer, driven by the Delta variant of the virus, even as US vaccination levels continued to inch upwards.

IAG, parent of transatlantic specialist British Airways, gained almost 12 per cent after the FT report, the most in 10 months. Air France-KLM rose as much as 7 per cent, and Deutsche Lufthansa, 7.5 per cent.

European network carriers, in particular, rely on US flights to generate earnings after losing market share to discount operators and high-speed trains on short-haul routes.

The US currently bars direct entry to people who are not citizens or permanent residents if they have been within the Schengen area of Europe or the UK within the past 14 days, regardless of vaccination status.

The White House declined to immediately comment on the FT report.

BLOOMBERG