Travellers vaccinated with WHO approved Covid vaccines can enter US: CDC

The top US health agency Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)has said that all Covid vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) can get visitors a clear entry in the US.

"Six vaccines that are FDA authorized/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the US,"a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

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As of now, Covid vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been approved in the US. WHO has also supported AstraZeneca-Oxford, Sinopharm and Sinovac, along with the three mentioned before.

This has come at a time when the US has been trying to revive the tourism industry in the country. US officials had recently announced that the country will now be lifting travel restrictions from 33 more countries that had been listed at the time when the US was trying to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Officials have also informed commercial airlines about the approved vaccines. The US health agency is also expected to "release additional guidance and information as the travel requirements are finalized".

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This has, however, also raised questions by Russian authorities about the pending approval for Sputnik V vaccine. WHO officials have claimed, in some western media reports, that almost all paperwork has been completed for Sputnik’s approval and the matter will be solved soon. Meanwhile, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko was quoted saying by Russian TV that only paperwork is left for approval by WHO.

Meanwhile, the US tourism industry is happy to finally open doors for incoming traveller. The industry has been suffering losses since the beginning of the coroanvorus pandemic as repeated lockdowns and border closures had pushed the industry into an almost complete halt.