- The restrictions, which includes South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, will be lifted on December 31, 2021
The White House on Friday announced that it is lifting the travel restrictions it imposed on eight southern African countries last month following the discovery of the COVID-19 omicron variant.
President Biden will lift the restrictions on Dec. 31, just one month after the bans were first announced, according to White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz.
Munoz noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that the restrictions be lifted.
“On Dec. 31, @POTUS will lift the temporary travel restrictions on Southern Africa countries. This decision was recommended by @CDCgov,” Munoz wrote on Twitter.
“The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, esp boosted,” he added.
The Biden administration announced the restrictions on South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi last month to try and tame the spread of the omicron variant.
The highly mutated strain has since spread to a number of countries across the globe, including every state the U.S.