The White House revealed it will be ending the Covid-19 vaccination requirement for federal workers and international travelers on May 11. Read to know more about the new update.
Covid-19 vaccination requirement scrubbed from May 11
On Monday, the White House stated the US will end its policy on Covid-19 vaccination requirements, three years after first enforcing it. “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,” revealed the official statement. Additionally, both the Homeland Security departments (DHS) and the Health and Human Services (HHS) will be initiating processes for ending vaccination requirements.
“HHS and DHS announced today that they will start the process to end their vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain non-citizens at the land border. In the coming days, further details related to ending these requirements will be provided,” explained the White House.
More on the shift in policy
With the new move, the Biden administration is moving to a “different phase” of covid response. It believes mandatory vaccination is no longer a requirement. However, the US is one of the last few nations to remove the mandate for international travelers. In the past, the prerequisite was the reason behind tennis star Novak Djokovic being unable to enter the US. He was forced to miss many high-profile tournaments such as the Grand Slam.
Last month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated the plan to stop tracking the spread of the pandemic was in progress. The CDC will be keeping track of infections by tracking hospitalizations. “We’re not going to lose complete surveillance, but we will lose that hyper-local sensitivity to it perhaps,” stated the CDC.