Sep 27, 2021 - World

New U.S. travel rule excludes those vaccinated with Russia's Sputnik V

Ivana Saric

Woman receives a vaccine jab, with a sign behind her in Russian cyrillic — A woman receives the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. Photo: Sergei Savostyanov\TASS via Getty Images

New rules allowing fully vaccinated international travelers to enter the U.S. beginning in November will exclude those vaccinated by Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: Sputnik V's exclusion will mean millions of fully vaccinated individuals won't be eligible to travel to the U.S., per the Post.

It will also have a wider international impact, as Russia has plans to distribute its vaccine to around 70 countries.

State of play: According to the new rules, non-citizens entering the country must be inoculated with vaccines approved for emergency use by either the Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization, per the Post.

These include the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines used widely in the U.S., as well as the AstraZeneca vaccine. It also includes the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines developed by China.
The WHO has paused its review process of the Sputnik V vaccine over concerns about its manufacturing process, the Post notes.

The big picture: While addressing the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for the mutual recognition of vaccines by national oversight bodies.

The Post notes that 300,000 Russians visited the U.S. in 2019, citing data from the U.S. Travel Association.

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New U.S. travel rule excludes those vaccinated with Russia's Sputnik V

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