Important news for Irish passengers heading to the US soon.
Passengers travelling to the United States from Ireland are no longer required to take a Covid-19 test or present documentation proving they have recovered from the virus before boarding their flight.
On Friday, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the order requiring travellers to show a negative Covid test or recovery documentation was to be scrapped.
This came into effect at 5.01am Irish time on Sunday (12 June), with the CDC stating as the reason for the change:
“The Covid-19 pandemic has now shifted to a new phase, due to the widespread uptake of highly effective Covid-19 vaccines, the availability of effective therapeutics and the accrual of high rates of vaccine and infection-induced immunity at the population level in the United States.
“Each of these measures has contributed to lower risk of severe disease and death across the United States. As a result, this requirement which was needed at an earlier stage in the pandemic may be withdrawn.
“CDC continues to recommend that those travelers boarding a flight to the US get tested for current infection with a viral test as close to the time of departure as possible (no more than three days) and not travel if they are sick.”
On its website, Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) states that all passengers to the US – except children under 18 – are still required to show proof of being fully vaccinated against Covid, though a booster dose is not required.
“Only limited exceptions apply to this requirement,” the DFA said.
The US accepts the EU Digital Covid Certificate as proof of vaccination.
For more information, you can visit the DFA’s website here.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
