[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 92 (Friday, May 12, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30749-30750]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10276]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Notice of End to Requirement for Air Passengers To Provide Proof 
of COVID-19 Vaccination Before Boarding a Flight to the United States

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within 
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces that CDC's 
Amended Order: Implementing Presidential Proclamation on Safe 
Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic no longer will 
be in effect beginning at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 12, 
2023. Consequently, noncitizen, nonimmigrant air passengers will no 
longer be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an 
accepted COVID-19 vaccine before boarding a flight to the United 
States.

DATES: Starting at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on May 12, 2023, 
noncitizen, nonimmigrant air passengers will no longer need to show 
proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to 
board a flight to the United States.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Candice Swartwood, Division of Global 
Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
1600 Clifton Road NE, MS H16-4, Atlanta, GA 30329. Telephone: 1-800-
232-4636.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proclamation 10294 of October 25, 2021, 
suspended, subject to certain exceptions, the entry of nonimmigrant 
noncitizens into the United States by air travel without full 
vaccination for COVID-19. Section 4 of the Proclamation directed CDC to 
implement the Proclamation as it applies to public health. Pursuant to 
that direction, CDC issued an order on October 30, 2021, and an amended 
order on April 4, 2022, implementing the Proclamation.
    On May 9, 2023, the President issued a Proclamation revoking 
Proclamation 10294's vaccination requirement for noncitizen 
nonimmigrants entering the United States by air travel, effective at 
12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 12, 2023. The Proclamation 
explained that, considering progress in public health and based on the 
latest guidance from public health experts, international air travel 
restrictions imposed in October 2021 were no longer necessary.

[[Page 30750]]

    Pursuant to the May 9, 2023, Proclamation, and the President's 
revocation of the vaccination requirements contained in Proclamation 
10294, CDC has reviewed its Amended Order Implementing Presidential 
Proclamation on Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 
Pandemic and has determined that termination of this Amended Order is 
warranted. CDC's Amended Order, which implemented Proclamation 10294's 
vaccination requirements, is terminated and no longer remains in effect 
as of 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 12, 2023.
    This means that as of 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 12, 
2023, noncitizen, nonimmigrant air passengers no longer need to show 
proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to 
board a flight to the United States.\1\
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    \1\ This Notice, like CDC's April 2022 Amended Order that no 
longer will be in effect as of 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 
May 12, is not a substantive rule within the meaning of the 
Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because it implements the 
President's revocation of the vaccination requirements contained in 
the October 2021 Proclamation (which in turn was the basis for the 
CDC's Amended Order). In any event, the APA's requirement of a 30-
day delay in the effective date of certain ``substantive rule[s],'' 
5 U.S.C. 553(d), would not apply to this notice, as this notice 
``relieves a restriction'' contained in the Amended Order, id. 
Section 553(d)(1). Independently, were the APA applicable, CDC finds 
good cause for its termination of the April 2022 Amended Order to 
take effect at 12:01 a.m. on May 12, 2023, which coincides with the 
end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, given the latest public 
health conditions and the latest guidance from public health 
experts. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b), (d).

Kathryn L. Wolff,
Chief of Staff, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2023-10276 Filed 5-10-23; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P