The White House repeatedly sidestepped questions Monday when asked about the lengthy delay in dropping coronavirus travel restrictions for foreign travelers.
Reuters reporter Steve Holland first asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki during Monday’s briefing to explain “what changed” between the announcement that morning and July, when the Biden administration opted not to drop the restrictions.
WHITE HOUSE UNROLLS ‘NEW SYSTEM’ FOR INCOMING FOREIGN NATIONALS, SET TO START IN NOVEMBER
Psaki responded by invoking the “working groups” the administration launched in July “with a range of countries and partners in the world to determine what the most equitable and clear policy moving forward to resume broader international travel.”
“The older rules were not equitable, and a bit confusing, and this was an effort to pursue that,” she concluded.
Earlier in the day, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients also failed to lay out a detailed rationale in response to press questions on the subject, but suggested that the restrictions were kept in place until the global vaccine rate rose to a higher level.
“Today, nearly 6 billion shots have been administered globally, and dozens of countries have strong vaccination rates,” he added. “Vaccines continue to show that they’re highly effective.”
“The new system allows us to implement strict protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for passengers flying internationally into the U.S.,” Zients said in closing. “And this individual-based rather than country-based approach to risk is the right system going forward.”
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A number of reporters who took part in Zients’s briefing on the subject Monday morning asked about the timing of the announcement, specifically if it was meant to ease tensions with France over the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.
