The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries imposed last month over concerns about the fast-spreading Covid-19 Omicron variant, the White House said Friday.

Foreign nationals who are barred from the US because they have been in one of the eight countries within the prior 14 days will again be allowed on US-bound flights leaving after 12.01am US east coast time on 31 December, a senior official said.

The United States on 29 November barred nearly all non-US citizens who had recently been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi in an “abundance of caution” over the variant detected in South Africa.

White House spokesman Kevin Munoz tweeted that Biden “will lift the temporary travel restrictions on Southern Africa countries” effective 31 December.

He said the decision was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, esp boosted,” Munoz tweeted.

The travel ban was criticized by the World Health Organization, southern African leaders, and immigration attorneys as ineffective and unfairly damaging to local economies. U.S. public health agencies had recommended lifting the Omicron and other Covid travel restrictions because they would not have a meaningful impact on case numbers in the U.S., given how widespread the variant already is within the U.S., and because existing vaccines and booster shots are highly effective against the variant.