Facing COVID-19 travel restrictions for over a year and a half travelers, from a long list of countries including Canada, Mexico, and most of Europe were finally allowed to once again visit the United States on Monday.
The loosening of restrictions means the U.S. will welcome vaccinated travelers at airports and land borders. As part of the new rules, air travelers will need to provide proof of vaccine and a negative COVID test while land travelers will only need proof of vaccine.
"It's not only okay, but it's been rather ironic for much of the pandemic since we have been one of the most hard-hit countries in the world," said Dr. Michael Osterholm, the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Osterholm, who joined WCCO Radio's Steve Simpson on the WCCO Radio Morning News on Monday, said the problem was the United States was exporting its cases to other parts of the world.
"This is logical and I think will help begin to bring us back to a world of, 'How we do live with Covid?'"
Monday's easement of U.S. travel restrictions happened to be on the same day the City of Los Angeles implemented one of the country's strictest vaccine mandates. Anyone aged 12 or older must show proof of vaccine in order to enter a number of businesses including restaurants, malls, gyms, and movie theaters.
"We still have 65 to 75 million people in this country who are not vaccinated and who are not likely protected from having had an infection itself and developing an immunity from that," Dr. Osterholm added. "We still have a lot of human wood for this Coronavirus forest fire to burn. That's what keeps setting us back. We keep having all of these surges."
Osterholm reiterated that the only way to move past more restrictions is to get even more people vaccinated.
"And for those who've been at least six months out, get a booster in those people so we can maintain that protection. That's what will get us back a time that we will surely agree is different than a pandemic."
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On Friday, Pfizer said its experimental antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 cut the chance of hospitalization or death by 89% for adults at risk of severe disease. That news came as Merck & Co Inc's pill, molnupiravir, gained approval in Britain as the world's first COVID-19 antiviral pill.
"These are going to be game changers, and there are more than two, with more coming down the pike," said Osterholm.
While he said the pills won't be a replacement for the vaccine, they will be an important option for anyone who gets infected.
"We don't want anyone to get COVID. Period," he said. "But if in fact we can keep it as a milder illness that will be a big, big issue in terms of moving forward. We need to make these pills available for the whole world."