The US has banned them from traveling to eight African countries because of the Omicron variant

By Nandita Bose and David Shepardson

NANTUCKET, Mass./WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will ban entry to most travelers from eight southern African countries from Monday after identifying a potentially more contagious variant of coronavirus in South Africa, President Joe Biden said on Friday.

A new variant called Omicron poses a new challenge for Biden, as Americans have had varying degrees of success in getting vaccinated after the political motivation driven by 10 state mandates, and receiving criticism from international health experts and foreign leaders for not sending it. vaccines for the poorest countries.

Travel restrictions do not prohibit flights or apply to U.S. citizens and permanent U.S. legal residents.

Countries around the world rushed to cancel trips from South Africa after the World Health Organization said Omicron was “worrying”. Many of these restrictions are introduced immediately, unlike in the United States.

The restrictions apply to South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. Most citizens who have been in those countries for the past 14 days will not be able to enter the United States.

Biden made the announcement that he was spending a Thanksgiving holiday weekend on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.

“Until I have more information as a precautionary measure, I am calling for additional restrictions on air travel from South Africa and seven other countries,” Biden said in a statement. “These new restrictions will take effect on November 29. As we move forward, we will continue to do what science and my medical team advise.”

He told reporters that he was on a walk in Nantucket that his medical team recommended starting the ban on Monday instead of immediately. A White House official told Reuters that the gap was due to procedural things that had to be done before the ban could be imposed, such as working with transport authorities and airlines.

“It’s not about waiting, it’s about how long it takes,” the official said.

The United States may add countries to the list of restrictions if the variant is extended, a senior administration official said.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE 🙂 and United Airlines are flying to South Africa and United will resume uninterrupted flights from Newark to Cape Town on December 1st. Shares of both airlines fell more than 8% on Friday.

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Biden called for a meeting at the World Trade Organization next week in response to the discovery of a new variant that would agree to waive intellectual property (IP) protections for COVID-19 vaccines.

“News of this new variant should make it clearer than ever why it will not end until there is a global pandemic vaccine,” Biden said in a statement.

However, the WTO meeting was postponed due to concerns about the variant and, sources told Reuters, making the already slow and uncertain process of intellectual property exemptions even more so.

Some public health experts have said that the United States has not done enough to deliver the first doses of vaccines abroad, mainly because they have advanced shots to reinvigorate citizens who are already vaccinated.

Earlier, U.S. Chief of Infectious Diseases Officer Dr. Anthony Fauci said the United States was in a hurry to collect data on the new COVID-19 variant.

It may take weeks for scientists to fully understand the mutations in the variant. Health authorities want to determine if Omicron is more contagious or infectious than other variants and if vaccines against it are effective.

The Biden administration was holding a meeting with U.S. airlines to discuss the cuts on Friday.

The United States lifted travel restrictions in only 33 countries, including South Africa, China, Europe, India, Brazil, Ireland, Britain and Iran, on November 8 after blocking the entry of most foreigners who had recently stayed in those countries. Since its inception in early 2020.