The White House opted again on Friday against giving an update on lifting coronavirus travel restrictions for non-United States citizens more than a week after President Joe Biden promised during his bilateral press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to deliver an answer on the topic in the “next several days.”
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“I would say first that there are ongoing working groups that are having discussions about how to hopefully move forward to a point where there is international travel,” Psaki said in response to a question on whether the administration would drop the restrictions if airlines adopt vaccine passports or mandates for incoming international flights. “We would all like to see not just for tourism but for families to be reunited. There are a range of topics in those discussions that are ongoing. The president receives regular briefings on them, but we rely on public health and medical advice on when we’re going to determine changes to be made.”
Psaki added that she is not aware of the president having any follow-up conversations with Merkel on the topic even though the leaders committed to maintaining a dialogue on lifting restrictions during Merkel’s visit to Washington, D.C.
“It’s in process now,” Biden said during that press conference before adding he would be able to answer “within the next several days what is likely to happen.”
“I’m waiting to hear from our folks in our COVID team as to when that should be done,” he explained.
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Tags: News, Joe Biden, Jen Psaki, White House, Coronavirus
Original Author: Christian Datoc
Original Location: White House silent a week after Biden promised an answer on lifting COVID-19 travel restrictions in ‘next several days’