The United States will add foreign COVID-19 vaccines, including Russia's Sputnik V, to its list of accepted shots upon authorization by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Travelers' Health Branch Chief Cindy Friedman told reporters on Tuesday.
"As the situation changes and as WHO continues to review and authorize vaccines on their EUL [emergency use listing] list, we will adapt and change our list of vaccines. We will keep looking at the vaccines that are added to any FDA or WHO list," Friedman said during a telephone press briefing.
Asked whether this will happen on a daily basis, Friedman noted that vaccines will "automatically be added" to the US "green" travel list as soon as they land on any FDA or WHO list. "Whenever it is announced, we would make the change," she explained.
On Monday, the US government announced its new policy that will require all arriving foreign travellers to be fully vaccinated and show proof prior to boarding flights for the United States starting November 8.
Foreign travellers who will be exempt from the new rule include those under the age of 18, those medically unable to receive the vaccine, or emergency travellers who do not have access to a COVID-19 test within one day, the advisory said.
COVID-19 vaccines approved by the WHO include Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Serum Institute of India, and Sinovac. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor