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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued an Alert that waives any and all requirements that applicants for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident present documentation on their Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, that they received the COVID-19 vaccination.
Effective January 22, 2025, the USCIS will not issue any Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny related to proving a COVID-19 vaccination. This U.S. policy has been in place since October 2021.
Furthermore, the USCIS updated policy will not deny any adjustment of status application based on the applicant's failure to present documentation that they received the COVID-19 vaccination.
However, applications must show proof of standard vaccinations for other vaccine-preventable diseases, such as polio and measles, recommended by the U.S. CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.
As of January 25, 2025, updated vaccine passport information is posted by Vax-Before-Travel News.
The Kingdom of Morocco has had a measles outbreak since September 2023. According to health officials, about 25,000 measles cases and 120 related fatalities have been reported in the northwest African country as of early 2025.
In January 2025 alone, the Ministry of Health reported over 3,000 measles cases.
Government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas informed HESPRESS that most fatalities have occurred among children under five and older adults.
Mohamed El Youbi, Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control at Morocco's Ministry of Health and Social Protection, described the situation as an epidemic, citing the unprecedented spread of the disease. "We previously recorded just three to four cases annually."
At a press briefing, Baitas urged parents and civil society groups to support the vaccination campaign launched by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. "Vaccination remains the most effective way to combat such diseases."
The Health Ministry confirmed measles vaccination campaigns would continue in 2025.
Morocco is one of the leading destinations for international tourists traveling to Africa. It surpasses Egypt, with about 17 million visitors last year.
As of 2024, Morocco is not listed by the U.S. CDC's Global Measles Travel Health Advisory, identifying 59 other countries.
The CDC recommends that all international travelers be fully vaccinated against measles with the MMR vaccine, including an early dose for infants aged 6 to 11 months.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that the current cholera outbreak in the Republic of South Sudan has recorded 21,000 cases and 367 deaths.
As of January 22, 2025, this cholera outbreak, which the government declared in October 2024, has been reported across seven states. The leading counties in this East African country are Rubkona, with 47% of total cases, followed by Juba, at around 10%.
The government launched oral cholera vaccination (OCV) campaigns in four high-risk counties in January 2025 to address the rising number of cholera cases.
With support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, around 4 million vaccine doses have been approved, and around 910,000 doses have been administered.
The WHO previously prequalified several OCVs.
The WHO has recorded seven cholera pandemics over the past two centuries. The current (7th) cholera epidemic is considered to have started in 1961 and continues in forty-five countries in 2025, with a case fatality rate of 0.6%.
In 2025, cholera vaccination is recommended when visiting cholera outbreaks. Additionally, due to outbreaks in the region, the U.S. CDC recommends protecting visitors to South Sudan against measles and polio.
Travel vaccines and OCVs are offered at travel clinics and pharmacies in the U.S.
Over the past year, Quebec has faced measles outbreaks in various cities. The first outbreak of 2024 led to 51 cases.
Since December 2024 and as of January 21, 2025, Quebec's Health Ministry has confirmed 13 measles cases as part of the second outbreak. These measles cases are in Laurentides (7), Montréal, and Laval.
Certain places frequented by recent measles cases have been identified. People must isolate themselves if they are not protected against measles. Update on January 22, 2025, this list has more information as part of the ongoing investigation.
Quebec is not alone in Canada, as the country reported 147 measles cases, the most in about a decade.
As of today, the U.S. CDC has not issued a travel advisory for Quebec's measles outbreak(s). Each year, millions of international visitors travel to this area of Canada.
In 2024, the CDC confirmed several measles outbreaks in the U.S.
The World Health Organization's Disease Outbreak News recently reported a fatal case of Chapare hemorrhagic fever (CHHF) from the La Paz Department in the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
As of January 20, 2025, no secondary cases have been reported.
The WHO defines Chapare hemorrhagic fever as an acute viral illness caused by the Chapare virus. The rodent-borne Chapare virus is an Arenavirus that can cause hemorrhagic fevers like Ebolaviruses.
Initially identified in Cochabamba in 2003, five documented outbreaks have occurred within Bolivia.
The most recent outbreak occurred in 2024, with one laboratory-confirmed case within the La Paz Department. This area in Bolivia, which has a population of about 3 million, is a neighbor of Peru.
As of January 22, 2025, the WHO says there is no significant risk of the disease spreading internationally. Person-to-person transmission of the Chapare virus is possible but remains rare in the general population.
The U.S. CDC says CHHF is a rare, deadly viral disease. About 20% to 60% of people with the disease die.
Furthermore, there are no treatments or preventive vaccines available for CHHF.
When visiting Bolivia in 2025, the CDC recommends several travel vaccinations, such as chikungunya and yellow fever. These vaccines are offered at many travel clinics and pharmacies in the U.S.
Vaxxas today announced that the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) approved the progression of a $4.8 million program to develop heat-stable, dried-formulation mRNA vaccines delivered using Vaxxas’ needle-free high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP).
The Vaxxas HD-MAP is comprised of thousands of microscopic projections molded into a small patch. Each microprojection is coated with a small dose of vaccine in a dried formulation.
Announced on January 22, 2025, Vaxxas will partner with SK bioscience in this next phase of the program, advancing the company’s mRNA vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) on Vaxxas’ HD-MAP towards a Phase I clinical study.
In late 2024, several JEV cases were confirmed in various Asian and Western Pacific Ocean countries.
Vaxxas expects the development work performed with the JEV vaccine candidate to be transferrable across all mRNA vaccine antigens delivered by LNPs, providing a platform approach that can be advanced to human trials.
David L. Hoey Vaxxas, CEO and President, commented in a press release, "With compelling proof-of-concept results in hand, we’re excited to have CEPI’s commitment to advance to the next stage of development."
"We’re equally excited to be working with SK bioscience and its JEV mRNA vaccine on this program to realize the promise of our HD-MAP technology to move the world closer to a commercially available, thermostable patch-based mRNA vaccine.”
This program was funded by CEPI in 2023 as part of its aim to improve the thermostability, and therefore equitable access, of mRNA vaccines.
This program is Vaxxas’ second collaboration with SK bioscience. The companies are also working on a program funded by Wellcome to advance the development of an HD-MAP/Typhoid conjugate vaccine candidate.
