VACCINE requirements for foreign air travellers to the US will end on May 11 as the Biden administration ends most of its remaining federal COVID-19 vaccine measures next week.

The US government is also beginning the process of lifting vaccine requirements at US land borders, and a range of other internal requirements for people such as educators and healthcare workers.

“While I believe that these vaccine mandates had a tremendous beneficial impact, we are now at a point where we think that it makes a lot of sense to pull these requirements down,” White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr Ashish Jha told The Associated Press on Monday.

Dr Jha said the US was already protected by a traveller surveillance programme, which, for instance, tests for different virus strains in aircraft wastewater.

“We think that we are much more able to identify if a new variant shows up in the United States and respond effectively,” he said. “And I think that’s what makes the need for a vaccine mandate for travelers less necessary right now.”