On Monday May 1st, the White House announced that the requirement to present a Covid-19 vaccination certificate for travelers and US government officials would be lifted on May 11th. On the same day, the public health emergency which came into effect because of the pandemic will also end.
More than one million people died from Covid-19 in the United States. The White House has however indicated that the pandemic has virtually stopped, prompting the government to lift restrictions that were in place as the disease ravaged entire communities and forced economic paralysis. The need to test negative was dropped last June but the vaccination requirement had remained in place.
“Today, we are announcing that the administration will end the Covid-19 vaccine requirements for federal employees, federal contractors, and international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the Covid-19 public health emergency ends,” a statement from the White House read.
We are in a different phase of our response to Covid-19 than we were when many of these requirements were put into place.
White House statement
According to data from the White House, Covid-19 deaths have declined by 95% since January 2021, and hospitalizations are down nearly 91%. Covid-19 deaths around the world are at their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic. Following a whole-of-government effort that led to a record number of nearly 270 million Americans receiving at least one shot vaccine.
The statement asserted that the vaccination requirements “helped ensure the safety of workers in critical workforces including those in the healthcare and education sectors, protecting themselves and the populations they serve, and strengthening their ability to provide services without disruptions to operations”.
According to the UK news outlet The Independent, a spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said that “the relaxation of the vaccination requirement for foreign nationals removes barriers for frictionless travel to the USA, our heartland for nearly 40 years. It will give a boost to transatlantic customer demand as a busy summer approaches.”
The Whites House stated that while vaccination remains one of the most important tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces, the situation has changed. Authorities are now in a different phase and the measures are no longer necessary.
The health emergency was decreed in March 2020 by Donald Trump. Later, Joe Biden adopted many of the mandates throughout 2021 as a way to accelerate the percentage of immunized people in the country.
