Biden admin dropping COVID jab mandate for foreign travelers, federal employees next week

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Biden admin dropping COVID jab mandate for foreign travelers, federal employees next week

Mon May 1, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews - adapted) — The Biden administration will finally scrap its COVID-19 jab mandate for foreigners traveling to the United States on May 11, the day that the federal government is allowing its federal COVID-19 public health emergency to expire. The rollback comes more than three years after the start of the COVID-19 epidemic and follows a February effort by Republican lawmakers to end the rule.

The Biden White House announced the imminent end of the mandate in a May 1 statement, citing declining COVID-related death rates and the “whole-of-government” effort to achieve wide levels of vaccine uptake as reasons for dropping the mandates.

“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, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends,” the White House statement read.

Federal employees and contractors will also no longer be required to get the experimental shot.

The statement also referred to announcements by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicating those agencies will also “start the process to end their vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border.”

The announcement came days after The Daily Mail reported Thursday that, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was revising the jab rule for international travelers, it was stopping short of actually doing away with the mandate.

The mandate for foreign travelers to the U.S., which has persisted far longer than many other such mandates, drew increased attention when Serbian Christian tennis pro Novak Djokovic was barred from competing in the U.S. Open because he has steadfastly refused to get the shot.

Monday’s announcement, however, means Djokovic will once again be allowed to compete in U.S. tournaments after being forced to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells last month due to the jab rule. Prior to being barred from entering the U.S. over his vaccination status, the tennis star was previously  detained in Australia when he traveled to the country amid ongoing COVID mandates to play in the Australian Open, LifeSiteNews reported.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is anticipated to launch a bid for the presidency this month, previously argued that Djokovic should have been allowed to compete in the U.S., slamming the federal jab rule as “unscientific.”

“The only thing keeping Novak Djokovic from participating in the Miami Open tennis tournament is President Biden’s misguided and unscientific COVID-19 vaccination requirement for foreigner [sic] travelers,” the governor said in a March 7 letter to President Biden.

“In sum, the current ‘travel ban’ as applied to Mr. Djokovic – and presumably millions of other potential unvaccinated foreign visitors – seems completely ungrounded in logic, common sense, or any genuine concern for the health and welfare of the American people,” DeSantis said.

The end of the COVID injection mandates comes as ongoing research indicates that COVID-related mask and jab mandates were ineffective. In addition, the value of the experimental COVID shots has been called into serious question amid the shots’ sliding efficacy, failure to stop transmission, and reports of serious adverse events. Across the country, intrusive public health measures like mask mandates and vaccine requirements have caused lasting societal harm, drawn serious public backlash, and created division among Americans.