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U.S. Won’t Push Vaccine Mandate for Domestic Air Travel At This Time

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In a statement to the press, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he doesn't see the need to mandate vaccination proof for domestic air travel at this time.

The president's comment was made following a press briefing about the U.S. travel updates, Biden was asked by a reporter if he was considering any requirements for domestic travel.

“The measure I have announced today are – we believe are – sufficient to deal with the proper medical precautions to deal with the spread of this variant,” the president replied.

Passengers at LAX

He later commented about the extension of the TSA mask mandate, which was extended last week from January 2022 until at least March 2022. The mandate applies to all public transportation throughout the U.S.

“But we do require for travel, we’re going to continue to require people to have masks on. And in public places and federal buildings,” Biden said.

Plane landing over Tampa, Florida

1 Day Testing Requirement For All International Arrivals Begins This Week

Amidst the fears of the new Omicron variant, the U.S. updated its entry requirements for international arrivals last week.

And from this week effective December 6th, all inbound travelers to the United States must show proof of a negative Covid test result (rapid antigen is accepted) taken no later than 24 hours prior to departure.

Women hikers in a park in the USA

The travel rules apply to all arrivals coming from an international destination, regardless of vaccination status or nationality.

The updated entry guidelines, however, do not specify any travelers crossing over to the U.S. by land or sea. For instance, fully vaccinated visitors crossing into the U.S. from Canada by car don't have to show a test to enter. You can read more about these travel loopholes here.

Palm trees at the beach in Key West, Florida

U.S. Travel Ban Currently Being Reviewed ‘On A Daily Basis'

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Last week, there was also a travel ban put in place for any passengers coming from these 8 countries. The ban followed a number of EU nations, the UK as well as other countries that also banned travelers coming from southern Africa.
According to a number of reports, the travel ban will be lifted soon and the U.S. medical advisers are reviewing the travel restrictions “on a daily basis.”
Santa Ana, CA, USA - August 16, 2021: United Airlines Boeing 737 in flight from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California.  (Santa Ana, CA, USA - August 16, 2021: United Airlines Boeing 737 in flight from John Wayne Airport in Orange County,

Domestic Air Travel Up In The U.S.

From record breaking numbers for the pandemic period to additional domestic flight routes from coast to coast, domestic travel has increased throughout the U.S. in 2021.

The numbers for Thanksgiving weekend show that is was a much busier travel season than last year, where it was reported that over 10 million travelers passing through U.S. airports over the holiday weekend.

Also, according to this piece in Forbes, a number of travel advisors have also been reporting that travelers are not canceling their updating trips for the winter holiday season and into the new year.

Some advisors are reporting that the only cancelations are due to any recent last minute travel bans and that travelers are adapting to this “new normal” as a new variant was announced.

Traveler wearing a mask at the airport and carrying a wheelie suitcase

On top of that, airlines are ramping up flights with new flight routes being added and announced every few weeks by airlines across the country.

Most recently, Denver-based and ULCC (ultra low cost carrier) airline Frontier announced 18 new flight routes to its itinerary for the new year.

Set to launch in February 2022, some of the destinations include San Juan, Puerto Rico to Boston, 3 new flight routes to Cancun (from Buffalo, Providence and Hartford) and 12 new routes from Fort Lauderdale to destinations throughout the U.S.

Fort Lauderdale - December 1, 2019: Royal Caribbean cruise ship docked at seaport Port Everglades at Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Read More:

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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com

Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.


Jackson

Wednesday 8th of December 2021

This just means they haven't got the messaging right at this point. This push will continue.

Anyone who is not 100% against these measures at any level of office (local, state, national) needs to be replaced with people who are.

Look at what's happening in Germany, Austria, and Australia. We all know where this leads to.

Liberty

Tuesday 7th of December 2021

"At this time"