US Travel Update: Mixed Vaccines Accepted for Travel

The United States confirmed it will accept travellers who have received mixed vaccinations when it updates its travel policy on 8 November. The new travel policy requires adult international visitors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before travelling.

Mixed vaccination jabs occur when an individual whose double vaccinations came from two separate manufacturers. This means that the second or third shot received was from a different manufacturer than the prior dose. It's a common practice in Canada and in the EU although not so much in the US.

Travellers are permitted to mix vaccines as long as they are on the approved list, so long as the two doses were administered at least 17 days apart.

While CDC has not recommended mixing types of the vaccine in a primary series, we recognize that this is increasingly common in other countries so should be accepted for the interpretation of vaccine records.
CDC spokeswoman

US President Joe Biden confirmed that any vaccination approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use will be sufficient for travel.

The approved vaccines include Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Covishield, Sinopharm, Sinovac and the one-shot Johnson & Johnson jab.

To be fully vaccinated, at least two weeks must have passed since your second dose of an accepted vaccine or two weeks after your first shot if you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Proof of Vaccination

All adult international travellers will need to present proof of vaccination to their airline before boarding their flight to the US. The White House confirmed that an official vaccination certificate issued by a public health or government agency will be adequate proof.

For EU passengers, they can show their EU Digital COVID Certificates. For British travellers, they can present their NHS COVID pass. For Canadians, it's the Canadian COVID-19 proof of vaccination card.

Travellers crossing into the US by land will need to show their vaccination certificates at border checks too.

Vaccination Exemptions

Children under the age of 18 are not required to be vaccinated to travel to the US, nor are unvaccinated adults who cannot be immunized due to medical conditions, such as allergies. Returning US citizens and permanent residents do not need to be vaccinated either. All arrivals will be subject to testing requirements though, regardless of vaccination status.

Individuals from countries with limited COVID-19 vaccination availability are also exempted from the travel rule. You can see a full list here. This list will be updated every three months.

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