(Washington) The United States will lift travel restrictions on eight African countries that were imposed to slow the spread of the Omicron variant on December 31, after just over a month, a White House spokesperson.
People from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi are currently prohibited from arriving on American soil, a decision that was announced on November 26. “By excess of precaution”, recalled the White House.
The US executive ensures, in a statement sent by a senior White House official, that “two essential reasons” decided to lift the restrictions.
First, the observation that “current vaccines effectively protect against a severe form [de la COVID-19] related to Omicron, especially after a booster dose ”.
Then, the fact that “international travelers from these countries will not have a significant impact on the number of cases in the United States”, now that the Omicron variant is widely present in the country.
The implementation and then maintenance of these travel restrictions, weighing only on southern Africa as the new variant spread at high speed around the world, drew much criticism from the Biden administration.