WASHINGTON — The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added Turkey to "Level 4: COVID-19 Very High" travel recommendations, but people insisting on traveling there must be fully vaccinated.

"Avoid travel to Turkey," the CDC noted in a statement early Tuesday. "If you must travel to Turkey, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel."

It warned "because of the current situation in Turkey, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants."

The four destinations added to the Level 4 list on Aug. 16 are: Dominica, Jersey, Montenegro and Turkey.

Furthermore, CDC lowered India to "Level 2: Moderate Level of COVID-19," noting "make sure you are fully vaccinated before traveling to India."

For its' part, the State Department Travel Advisory also raised Turkey to "Level 4 — Do Not Travel" and lowered India to "Level 2 — Exercise Increased Caution."

US President Joe Biden on April 30 imposed new travel restrictions on India in light of COVID-19, barring most non-US citizens from entering the United States who had been in India within the previous 14 days.

In additional to India, the United States currently bars most non-US citizens who within the last 14 days have been in the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen nations in Europe without internal border controls, or in Ireland, China, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

The CDC currently lists more than 70 countries at its travel advisory rating. Last week, CDC and the US State Department lowered the COVID-19 travel advisory for Canada to “Level 2.” Despite the change, the US government shows no sign of easing any COVID-19 restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that the Biden administration is planning to announce "that most Americans vaccinated from coronavirus will need booster shots eight months after being fully vaccinated", citing people familiar with the decision.

"The administration of the boosters would not occur until mid or late September," according to the individuals.

Pfizer and BioNTech announced earlier Monday that they have submitted "Phase 1 data to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support the evaluation of a third, or booster, dose of the companies' COVID-19 vaccine."

Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for both the Pfizer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines "to allow for the use of an additional dose in certain immunocompromised individuals." — Agencies