Ideal Third Countries for COVID Vaccination for New US Rules

[Merica-n 65]

Does anyone have suggestions for countries that:

 

1.  Allow entry without COVID vaccination (ideally minimal quarantine requirements, covid test is okay)

2.  Allow tourists to get vaccinated with world health organization approved vaccine (must be able to choose who approved or only have who approved available)

3.  Doesn't have difficult visa requirements or ideally allows tourist entry with a valid US visa.

4.  Has an international airport with reasonably easy air access. (not an island with mostly cessna flights originating from the US)

 

Trying to find good solutions for those vaccinated or in countries with Sputnik or non WHO approved Chinese vaccines or others who cannot get vaccinated, but have USA visa.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Merica-n

[SalishSea 17,829]

54 minutes ago, Merica-n said:

Does anyone have suggestions for countries that:

 

1.  Allow entry without COVID vaccination (ideally minimal quarantine requirements, covid test is okay)

2.  Allow tourists to get vaccinated with world health organization approved vaccine (must be able to choose who approved or only have who approved available)

3.  Doesn't have difficult visa requirements or ideally allows tourist entry with a valid US visa.

4.  Has an international airport with reasonably easy air access. (not an island with mostly cessna flights originating from the US)

 

Trying to find good solutions for those vaccinated or in countries with Sputnik or non WHO approved Chinese vaccines or others who cannot get vaccinated, but have USA visa.

You genuinely cannot get any WHO-approved vaccines in China?

[Merica-n 65]

23 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

You genuinely cannot get any WHO-approved vaccines in China?

Yes, all vaccines are procured by the government and provided to the people for free.  So the government policy is once you are vaccinated, you are considered fully vaccinated and not eligble for any additional vaccination for 6 mos.  Since vaccine registration is centralized to their green card system, no one will give you a vaccine if you've already been vaccinated by a china approved vaccine.  Since roughly 70% of China was already vaccinated and 75% had already received a single dose, when the USA air travel rules were released, there are many people in China that would not be eligible to travel to USA under existing rules because they received the china approved, but not who approved vaccine.  She cannot receive any additional vaccine in China for several months.  There appears to be no private supply of vaccine in China much like the USA and all is owned by the government.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Merica-n

[SalishSea 17,829]

1 hour ago, Merica-n said:

Yes, all vaccines are procured by the government and provided to the people for free.  So the government policy is once you are vaccinated, you are considered fully vaccinated and not eligble for any additional vaccination for 6 mos.  Since vaccine registration is centralized to their green card system, no one will give you a vaccine if you've already been vaccinated by a china approved vaccine.  Since roughly 70% of China was already vaccinated and 75% had already received a single dose, when the USA air travel rules were released, there are many people in China that would not be eligible to travel to USA under existing rules because they received the china approved, but not who approved vaccine.  She cannot receive any additional vaccine in China for several months.  There appears to be no private supply of vaccine in China much like the USA and all is owned by the government.

I see.  Sorry to hear.  Hopefully some with knowledge of options for her will chime in.  Best luck.

[Bill Hamze 89]

11 hours ago, Merica-n said:

Yes, all vaccines are procured by the government and provided to the people for free.  So the government policy is once you are vaccinated, you are considered fully vaccinated and not eligble for any additional vaccination for 6 mos.  Since vaccine registration is centralized to their green card system, no one will give you a vaccine if you've already been vaccinated by a china approved vaccine.  Since roughly 70% of China was already vaccinated and 75% had already received a single dose, when the USA air travel rules were released, there are many people in China that would not be eligible to travel to USA under existing rules because they received the china approved, but not who approved vaccine.  She cannot receive any additional vaccine in China for several months.  There appears to be no private supply of vaccine in China much like the USA and all is owned by the government.

 

Aren't the Chinese vaccines also WHO-approved? Sinopharm and Sinovac are right there under the "Accepted COVID-19 Vaccines" section here in the link below. If one has been vaccinated with one of those two, they can travel to the USA. Not sure I understand what the problem is.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/proof-of-vaccination.html

Edited November 9, 2021 by Bill Hamze

[Merica-n 65]

 

6 hours ago, Bill Hamze said:

 

Aren't the Chinese vaccines also WHO-approved? Sinopharm and Sinovac are right there under the "Accepted COVID-19 Vaccines" section here in the link below. If one has been vaccinated with one of those two, they can travel to the USA. Not sure I understand what the problem is.

There are 9 different Chinese vaccines.  Only 2 are who approved.  If they already vaccinated you with one of the other 7 they consider you fully vaccinated and won’t give you a w.h.o. approved vaccine, but it’s not like they let you select which vaccine you get either.  They give you what they have.  The usa rules requiring w.h.o vaccination were also released after 70% of the population in China was vaccinated so you didn’t know getting a w h o approved vaccine was important until it was too late.

[RandyW 149]

The instructions for the medical exam from the consulate includes a list of immigrations hospitals with approved panel physicians. 

 

These instructions are dated June, 2021 and do not list the COVID vaccination. The panel physician will have up to date information, and MAY be able to offer WHO-approved vaccinations, since they are necessary for travel to the U.S. I haven't heard back from anyone as to whether that is actually the case.

Medical Examination and Vaccination Instructions

Edited November 9, 2021 by RandyW

[Merica-n 65]

2 hours ago, RandyW said:

The panel physician will have up to date information, and MAY be able to offer WHO-approved vaccinations, since they are necessary for travel to the U.S. I haven't heard back from anyone as to whether that is actually the case.

The current instructions for panel physicians related to immigrants say that you must have completed your covid vaccination before the medical and it says that K-1 applicants and other aren't required to complete vaccinations at all.  I hope they do offer her a who approved vaccine, but if you read the instructions, it says you must complete covid before the medical exam if it's required, which makes sense, because in most countries without johnson and johnson the vaccine will take 2 visits over 3-4 weeks to administer and 6 weeks to become fully vaccinated, and there's a global shortage of vaccine around the world, and it isn't available privately in may countries including China, Mexico, etc.  Anyways,  I'm sure in the next month, people will go through the system and we will find out for sure what will happen and hopefully the us government will provide some exceptions for those who aren't able to get a w.h.o. vaccine.

 

But to get back to the topic of this thread, my research identifies Croatia, Panama, and Bali as possible vaccine tourism countries, where quarantine can be avoided, but you will probably still need a visa, but they aren't super strict on visas?  I can't find exact information on Bali, but Croatia is definitely a good choice.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Merica-n

[RandyW 149]

8 hours ago, Merica-n said:

The current instructions for panel physicians related to immigrants say that you must have completed your covid vaccination before the medical and it says that K-1 applicants and other aren't required to complete vaccinations at all.  I hope they do offer her a who approved vaccine, but if you read the instructions, it says you must complete covid before the medical exam if it's required, which makes sense, because in most countries without johnson and johnson the vaccine will take 2 visits over 3-4 weeks to administer and 6 weeks to become fully vaccinated, and there's a global shortage of vaccine around the world, and it isn't available privately in may countries including China, Mexico, etc.  Anyways,  I'm sure in the next month, people will go through the system and we will find out for sure what will happen and hopefully the us government will provide some exceptions for those who aren't able to get a w.h.o. vaccine.

 

But to get back to the topic of this thread, my research identifies Croatia, Panama, and Bali as possible vaccine tourism countries, where quarantine can be avoided, but you will probably still need a visa, but they aren't super strict on visas?  I can't find exact information on Bali, but Croatia is definitely a good choice.

 

 

My suggestion, if you haven't already done so, is to contact the immigrations hospital to see if they can give her a WHO-approved vaccination, independent of the medical exam.

I expect that her Chinese vaccination was enough to satisfy the exam requirement, even though it's NOT approved for US travel.

[slavaskii 886]

On 11/8/2021 at 12:59 PM, Merica-n said:

Does anyone have suggestions for countries that:

 

1.  Allow entry without COVID vaccination (ideally minimal quarantine requirements, covid test is okay)

2.  Allow tourists to get vaccinated with world health organization approved vaccine (must be able to choose who approved or only have who approved available)

3.  Doesn't have difficult visa requirements or ideally allows tourist entry with a valid US visa.

4.  Has an international airport with reasonably easy air access. (not an island with mostly cessna flights originating from the US)

 

Trying to find good solutions for those vaccinated or in countries with Sputnik or non WHO approved Chinese vaccines or others who cannot get vaccinated, but have USA visa.

Croatia will do it (Zagreb). To get in, you either need a Croatian visa or any Schengen visa issued by a Schengen Member (conveniently, long-term national D visas are also permitted, and not just type C). No quarantine requirements for tourists so long as you have a PCR test and proof of paid accommodation (i.e., hotel). Janssen available regularly, meaning it's a one-stop shop. 

 

I'm not sure of countries besides Croatia that will fit your bill, particularly if you (or your SO) does not have a Schengen visa. Dubai used to do it, then discontinued. None of the Eastern European countries have WHO-approved vaccines, though if Europe is not an option, I have heard some people mention Panama, though I can't confirm.