Foreign national travelers 18 and older must be vaccinated and test negative; those 2-17 must test negative
AstraZeneca accepted
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced a new order for all air passengers traveling to the United States.
Starting on November 8, foreign national air travelers — ie those who are not US citizens or US permanent residents — to the United States will be required, with only very limited exceptions, to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to fly to the United States.
This is a global policy that applies to travelers from all around the world, including The Bahamas.
All fully vaccinated travelers will still be required to show documentation of a pre-departure negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before travel to the United States. This applies to all travelers, including US citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs) and foreign nationals.
All vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and World Health Organization (WHO), and any combination thereof, will be accepted, including AstraZeneca.
There are very limited other exceptions to the new requirements; those exceptions, such as humanitarian exemptions, will not apply to the vast majority of travelers.
Children under the age of 18 are exempt from the vaccination requirement; however, children between the ages of two and 17 still need to present a negative COVID-19 test result.
US citizens and LPRs who are not fully vaccinated but who are otherwise eligible to travel will need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken one day before their flight’s departure.
US citizens and LPRs who are fully vaccinated will need to present airlines with proof of vaccination, and will also still need to provide a negative COVID-19 test taken three days before their flight.
For full details about the updated requirements for air travelers, frequently asked questions, and other details from the Department of State and the CDC, please refer to travel.state.gov and CDC.gov.
