People enter the baggage claim area from the international arrivals terminal as the US reopens air and land borders to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccinated travelers for the first time since the COVID-19 restrictions were imposed, at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, Washington, US on November 8, 2021. (Reuters photo)

The White House has announced that the administration of US President Joe Biden will lift travel restrictions imposed on eight countries in southern Africa, which the United Nations has denounced as travel apartheid.

The Biden administration last month implemented the ban to restrict travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi, over concerns about the fast-spreading COVID-19 Omicron variant.

The Biden administration said that the measure was taken out of an abundance of caution in light of the new variant.

A senior official confirmed a Reuters report that foreign nationals who are barred from the United States because they have been in one of the eight countries within the prior 14 days will again be allowed after December 31.

White House spokesman Kevin Munoz tweeted that Biden will lift the temporary travel restrictions on Southern Africa countries effective December 31.

He said the decision was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, esp boosted, Munoz tweeted.

This comes after Reuters reported that American public health agencies had recommended lifting the travel restrictions on the African countries given the widespread current US transmission, and confidence that an Omicron-specific vaccine would not be necessary and that existing vaccines and booster shots are highly effective.

This travel pause has served its purpose. It bought time to understand the science, it gave time to analyze the variant, the official, who did not want to be identified because the decision has not yet been made public, told Reuters.

This was not meant to keep Omicron out. We knew we couldn’t do that. The point was to reduce the number of cases coming in - in those early days and weeks.

The Biden administration’s decision of travel restrictions on the African countries had sparked an immediate backlash from the international community and public health experts, who said it was ineffective and punitive against African countries.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the US response travel apartheid.

He said that travel restrictions imposed over COVID-19 that isolate any one country or region as not only deeply unfair and punitive - they are ineffective.

Guterres stated that the only way to reduce the risk of transmission while allowing for travel and economic engagement was to repeatedly test travelers, together with other appropriate and truly effective measures, according to Reuters.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was deeply concerning that African countries are being penalized with travel restrictions after detecting and reporting the omicron variant.

Even, Republican Senator Rand Paul slammed American travel restrictions on the African countries, saying that the travel bans aren’t going to work to prevent the variant from spreading.

‘Travel ban was not based on science’

Commenting to Press TV, African American writer and journalist Abayomi Azikiwe said, This ban was not based on science since there was no evidence that the variant originated in South Africa. Rather than applaud the scientific discovery, the people of the region have been punished. Unfortunately, the media coverage of the appearance of Omicron has enhanced the already existing fears about the transmissibility of the disease.

The United States remains the epicenter of the other variants such as Delta. The medical spokesman for the administration of President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said maybe the ban can be lifted soon. Although no word has been given from the president. Cases of the virus are going up rapidly in sections of the country including the Midwest and Northeast. The disease must be battled with adequate vaccinations, safety protocols and medicines, he said.

The travel bans on 8 Southern African states is further damaging the economies of the region. This will impact imports from the US and the European Union. Support for the travel ban in the US is being fueled by the nature of the reporting in the corporate and government-controlled media, he stated.