It only took 19 long months

Regular as clockwork, the Department of Homeland Security renewed the prohibition against nonessential travel at land crossings into the U.S., this time with a couple of wrinkles.

Instead of renewing the rule one month at a time as usual, the prohibition was extended from October 22 until January 21, 2022. Posted on the Federal Register on October 21, the notification summarizes the reasons for the prohibition against nonessential traffic but includes a significant caveat: “This Notification further announces that the Secretary [of Homeland Security] intends to lift these limitations for individuals who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to align with anticipated changes to international travel by air.”

This is in reference to the recent announcement made prior to this notice being published in the register that the U.S. intends to open its land borders on November 8.

The notice then goes on to restate the same rationale against allowing traffic across the U.S. land borders that has been used since the border was closed in March 2020 i.e. the risk of Covid-19 and its variants, in particular, the Delta variant.

This time, however, apparently “vaccines are effective against Delta and other known variants, protecting people from getting infected and severely ill,” something that governor Jay Inslee, federal, state and local officials and politicians have been saying for months.

It seems that someone finally listened. It just took 19 months for them to do so.