New York – Joe Biden plans to reopen travel with Europe in mid-May. Senior members of the Administration announced it to the CNBC television network. The date coincides with the period in which the president promised that there will be vaccines available for the entire population of the United States, and at the current pace of the vaccination campaign his promise is now realistic (117 million doses already inoculated, 2.5 millions per day).
The first borders to reopen will be those with the two neighboring countries, Canada e Mexico. The announcement coincides with the start of an “export” of US-made vaccines to Mexico and Canada, linked to an emergency: the influx of migrants on the southern border, which is why Biden has decided to unlock millions of AstraZeneca doses, already manufactured in the United States and stored. Transferring them to Mexico responds to a national interest, that of limiting the possibility of contagion among migrants; in addition, the US drug authority (FDA) has not yet authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine for Americans.
In mid-May, the Administration would like to expand the opening of the borders to include the UK he Member States of the European Union. The calculation is that by then the American population should have achieved herd immunity. Since flight restrictions were adopted reciprocally on both sides of the Atlantic a year ago, it is assumed that the Biden Administration is negotiating a symmetrical, two-way traffic lift with Brussels and London.
Vaccine: rapid test or immunity. The EU pass to return to travel
by our correspondent Alberto D’Argenio
“There will be a total change in mid-May when the vaccines here will be available to everyone,” said the senior member of the federal government quoted by the CNBC. The “travel bans” or entry bans on US territory for the covid have been in force since March 2020, albeit with exceptions.
From today’s rumors it is not yet clear whether the lifting of the restrictions that the Biden Administration thinks will be total, or whether it will be limited to flights with test-covid or to holders of a health passport to be agreed with other countries. American airlines within the IATA association are lobbying for the launch of an international document that facilitates flights for those already vaccinated.
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