A temporary travel ban on eight African countries will be lifted on New Year’s Eve, White House Assistant Press Secretary Kevin Munoz said in a tweet Friday morning.
Last month, the Biden administration announced the travel ban to mitigate the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19. This variant was first identified in South Africa and is highly contagious. As of this week, more than 73 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are omicron cases.
Countries included in the ban are the Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Malawi, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of South Africa, and the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Munoz said the decision to lift the ban on Dec. 31 was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron,” especially if people have received a booster shot.
Currently, the CDC recommends Pfizer and Moderna two-shot mRNA vaccines over the single shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to blood clotting issues associated with it. Booster shots for all three vaccines have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
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