Government
House of Representatives Vote to End COVID Vaxx Mandate for Travellers to USA
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#USA, February 11, 2023 – On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives voted to trash the vaccination requirement for entry to the States; the vote coming just weeks after that mandate was given a three month extension. While the travel industry is applauding the vote, many are offering that is it unlikely to go into effect with the Democratically controlled Senate left to vote on the repeal measure and President Joe Biden promising to veto it if it reaches his desk.
The decision to scrap the rules was made on Wednesday, the morning after President Joe Biden declared US victor over the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Even with the desire to end the emergency at home the Biden-led White House was not pleased with the decision to
Still, things are loosening up inside the US if not at its borders.
Biden announced in late January said he will end the Public Health Emergency and National Emergency declarations on May 11 this year, months ahead of schedule. He reiterated his stance in his State of The Union telling residents
“We have broken COVID’s grip on us COVID deaths are down nearly 90%.We’ve saved millions of lives and opened our country back up. And soon we’ll end the public health emergency.”
Regardless of the outcome, which is still to be decided, the US Travel Association was pleased with the vote.
“We have long supported the removal of this requirement and see no reason to wait until the May expiration of the public health emergency—particularly as potential visitors are planning spring and summer travel. Every day this policy remains in place encourages some travelers to avoid the U.S., costing us valuable visitor spending and delaying our efforts to reignite inbound travel. We thank the bill’s sponsors for their efforts to remove this outdated, Covid-era policy and normalize inbound travel operations,” it said.