President Joe Biden‘s administration is contending with calls to scrap the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s prohibition on foreign visitors who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 as Democrats try to balance moving beyond the pandemic before November’s midterm elections with virus precautions.
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The CDC’s anti-unvaccinated foreign visitor COVID-19 policy, underscored by world No. 6 Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic‘s ongoing bid to play in this month’s U.S. Open, is “outdated” and “should be ended,” according to Dr. Joel Zinberg, director of the Paragon Health Institute’s Public Health and American Well-Being Initiative.
“The benefits of vaccination in terms of limiting transmission are small in the age of omicron, which is highly transmissible regardless of vaccination status,” the general and oncologic surgeon told the Washington Examiner.
There should not be “a double standard” regarding citizen and noncitizen travel at this point in the pandemic, according to Dr. Anand Parekh, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s chief medical adviser. Parekh did recommend “some guardrails,” such as predeparture and post-arrival testing, as well as indoor masking, in addition to encouraging vaccination.
Criticism of the COVID-19 policy coincides with the CDC’s relaxation of exposure, isolation, and asymptomatic testing guidelines, while a Republican-led federal court challenge has prevented the Biden administration from dismantling the Title 42 public health order program that has automatically expelled many adult illegal migrants seeking asylum or otherwise. At the same time as that incoherence, Biden has come under pressure to address pandemic-related economic concerns before the midterm cycle.
For example, travel spending exceeded 2019 benchmarks for the third consecutive month in June, setting a new post-COVID-19 record of $105 billion, according to the U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics. But although domestic air travel decreased for the second straight month in June to 11% less than in 2019, overseas arrivals were 41% less than three years ago, though restrictions are not the only contributing factor. The Commerce Department that month also announced its “National Travel and Tourism Strategy” with the aim of admitting 90 million international visitors by 2027 who will outlay $279 billion annually.
The White House referred the Washington Examiner to the CDC when asked for comment about the COVID-19 policy. A spokesman for the federal agency simply reiterated that a “non-immigrant” visitor is required to prove they are “fully vaccinated” before traveling to the United States by air.
“More information, including exceptions, is available on the CDC website, which will be updated when there are changes to the guidance,” Nick Spinelli said.
Former CDC spokesman Glen Nowak compared the U.S. COVID-19 policy with that of other countries, noting Canada has retained its restrictions, unlike the United Kingdom.
“People who are affected by these kinds of policies often look to see whether things are being done consistently,” the University of Georgia’s Center for Health and Risk Communication director said. “If you’re inconsistent, that can damage your credibility.”
The clamoring for new COVID-19 recommendations dovetails with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky promising structural and operational reforms this week to improve the agency’s reputation after the pandemic.
“For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” Walensky said in a statement. “As a long-time admirer of this agency and a champion for public health, I want us all to do better.”
Questions with respect to Biden’s COVID-19 response once dominated polling surveys. But public opinion research has recently prioritized other issues, such as the president’s handling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and persistent year-on-year inflation, as pandemic health anxieties dissipate. Biden’s average COVID-19 approval-disapproval rating is 48%-44%, according to FiveThirtyEight.
A consistent Biden polling strength, despite its diminishing returns given the desire to return to pre-COVID-19 norms, the president’s current pandemic approval represents a recovery from January, when it ventured into net negative territory for the first time of his campaign and administration. Biden’s approval returned to net positive in March.
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Biden’s overall approval-disapproval is 40%-55%, depressed partly by his economic management amid 8.5% inflation in the year ending July and a definitional dispute over whether the two successive financial quarters of negative growth, negative 1.6% and then negative 0.9%, mean the country is in a recession.
