On Tuesday, President Biden revoked travel restrictions to eight African nations over the spread of the Omicron variant.
In a proclamation issued Tuesday, Biden announced that the restrictions are no longer “necessary” and that coronavirus vaccines offer protection against hospitalization due to the Omicron variant.
“The travel restrictions imposed by that proclamation are no longer necessary to protect the public health," Biden said in the new proclamation. "Since I issued that proclamation, our Nation's health officials, in collaboration with the South African scientists who originally reported the variant, have made substantial progress in understanding the Omicron variant.”
The travel restrictions were implemented last month when the Omicron variant began to spread. It will officially end at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 31.
"Importantly, scientific experts have determined that people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are protected against severe disease and hospitalization from the Omicron variant," Biden continued. "Moreover, the Omicron variant has now spread to more than 100 countries, and it is prevalent in the United States."
The eight countries affected by the travel restrictions were Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Nearly all foreign nationals who’d been present in any of the countries 14 days preceding their attempted entry into the United States could not enter.
A senior administration official told CNN last week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that the travel restrictions be lifted.
"First, our nation's health officials have made progress in understanding Omicron; importantly, our existing vaccines are effective against severe disease with Omicron, especially if you're boosted. Second, with Omicron now present across the US and globally, international travelers from these countries will not have a significant impact on US cases," the official said.