The United States has announced that international visitors to the country who are vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines authorized by US regulators or the World Health Organization, will be accepted.

The announcement has been made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late on Friday.

“Six vaccines that are FDA authorized/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the US,” Reuters quoted a CDC spokesperson as saying.

Right now, anyone coming into the US is required to be vaccinated by CDC approved vaccine.  

“We will look to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to guide which vaccines will be accepted, as part of their standard role in determining who is considered fully vaccinated for the purposes of recommended or required international travel protocols,” US Embassy to India had said in a statement last month.

India recognises four COVID vaccines but the country has used only the Oxford AstraZeneca licensed Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in its immunisation drive. Covishield is the only vaccine that India uses that has been recognised by the World Health Organisation. Covaxin’s WHO approval is still pending.

The White House had announced last month travel restrictions on air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil, and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be lifted in  November although it did not specify which vaccines would be accepted.

Airlines for America said it was “pleased by the CDC’s decision to approve a list of authorized vaccinations for travelers entering the US We look forward to working with the administration to implement this new global vaccine and testing framework by early November 2021,” Reuters reported.

The CDC said that “earlier this week, to help them prepare their systems we informed airlines” of the vaccines that would be accepted.

“CDC will release additional guidance and information as the travel requirements are finalised,” the CDC statement added.