Applicants for US immigrant visas and people seeking refugee status or medical attention in the United States will from the 1st October 2021, be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The US Centre for Disease Control has informed the various embassies of the new regulation.

Persons being processed for a US Immigrant visa, commonly referred to as a permanent residence visa, will see vaccination for COVID-19 becoming part of the requirements for their medical.

The applicant must complete the full dosage for the vaccine, meaning in the case of two-dose vaccines, they must have been administered both doses.

Additionally, the US will only be recognising vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation or the US Food and Drug Administration.

The Russian-made Sputnik vaccine has been administered widely in Guyana and that specific vaccine is still awaiting approval by the WHO.

With the approval of Sputnik still pending and based on the US requirements, that particular vaccine will not be recognised by the US Immigration as part of the new vaccination requirement.

According to the CDC, the current pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been determined by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations.

The US agency said COVID-19 meets the definition of a quarantinable communicable disease under US regulations as amended by Executive Orders.

It further states that specifically, COVID-19 meets the definition of severe acute respiratory syndromes as specified by Presidential Executive Order 13674, thus making it a Class A Inadmissible Condition.

There is no vaccine regulation for regular visitors to the US at this time, but the US government is reportedly examining the issue.

Meanwhile, many US universities are now requiring their students to be vaccinated with a WHO-approved or US FDA-approved vaccine. Several Guyanese students who are set to begin classes in the US have been forced to get revaccinated because they were vaccinated with Sputnik.

Cruise companies based in the US are also requiring their workers to be vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine.

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