USA travel rules threatened as Biden prepares to introduce more holiday restrictions | Travel News | Travel

Fully vaccinated international travellers can provide a test taken within three days of departure under current rules. The USA reopened its borders at the start of November.

However he said they could “buy time” to “vaccinate more people, learn more about the variant [and] work on strengthening even further travel safety measures, including testing.

“The CDC is considering a number of measures – right now, it hasn’t fully decided on what it is implementing.

“But I do believe some of the measures it’s considering will have a substantial impact on our ability to detect the virus before it arrives here.”

It is not yet known how dangerous the Omicron variant could be, but there are fears it could evade current vaccines.

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The USA has already banned travel from several African countries, including South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and eSwatini.

However, it is not known where Omicron originated as cases have also been reported in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Some experts have said the proposed measures are coming too late to protect the USA from Omicron.

Rick Bright, CEO of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Institute, told POLITICO: “It appears to me, almost two years into a global crisis, that the US CDC is only now making a few calls to consider options to protect American travellers.

The UK has banned travel to and from 10 African countries including Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said: “Our best form of defence still remains our vaccines.”

The Government has announced it will be ramping up the UK booster programme and aims to offer everyone over the age of 18 a booster by the end of January.

British tourists are advised to check the UK Government website before travel as restrictions can change rapidly.