Foreign Visitors Head to US as Travel Ban Ends

A United States travel ban on foreign visitors from many countries was lifted on Monday.

The action permitted many international travelers to take passenger flights to America for the first time since the COVID-19 health crisis began.

Travelers must show that they are fully¹ vaccinated² before they can get on a plane. They are also required to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of travel. Children under 18 do not need to be vaccinated, but are required to take a COVID-19 test. Children younger than two years do not need to take a test.

The administration of former President Donald Trump³ first placed COVID-19-related restrictions⁴ on air travelers from China in January 2020. These were later extended to 33 countries, including many in Europe. Americans have been permitted to travel to Europe for months. European governments had been pushing the U.S. to change its policies.

The U.S. had also restricted entry through land borders from Mexico and Canada to only "essential" travel. Beginning Monday, anyone can enter if they show proof that they have been vaccinated.

Acceptable vaccines⁶ are those approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO). These include injections from Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and China's Sinovac. Russia's Sputnik V vaccine⁵ has not been approved by the WHO and is not acceptable.

There will be exceptions to the vaccine requirement for people from countries where fewer than 10 percent of the population has been vaccinated. Travelers from those nations will need special permission from the U.S. government to enter.

Airline companies will be responsible for enforcing the vaccine requirements and could face government fines if they do not follow the rules.

Alice Keane told Reuters news agency she was finally getting to travel from London to Miami to see her sister. She said it was "really, really exciting."

"I was meant to go just before COVID happened, and obviously it's been delayed this long, so it's really exciting to finally be able to go," she said.

Virgin⁷ Atlantic chief Shai Weiss told Reuters that the British airline's planes were full. He said business was expected to remain strong in coming weeks into the holiday season.

Delta⁸ Airlines Chief Executive Ed Bastian warned travelers to expect long lines. But he promised the company would aim to reduce wait times and get things "sorted out."

Bindiya Patel spoke⁹ to Reuters at London's Heathrow Airport. "I think we might just start crying," she said. Patel explained that she was going to see her one-year-old nephew in New York for the first time.

Mexico's Ciudad Juarez is just across the border from El Paso, Texas. In that city, a line of about 20 people formed early Monday to enter the U.S., Reuters reported. Some members of the group had not seen family members on the other side since March 2020.

"We thought they were going to tell us again that they had decided¹⁰ not to open it," said Lorena Hernandez. She was reunited with her grown-up daughter in El Paso. "I said, if they don't reopen, I'm going to take a plane," she added.

Words in This Story

negative – adj. in a medical test, negative means the person being tested does not have a disease

essential – adj. completely necessary

obvious – adj. easy to understand or see

sort (something) out – v. (phrasal) to deal successfully with something, such as a problem or difficult situation

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

8 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。