The new CDC guidance would apply to immigrants living in the United States seeking to apply for a green card.

"COVID-19 vaccination now meets the criteria for required vaccinations and is a requirement for applicants eligible for the vaccine," the CDC said on its website.

The agency said that a negative screening for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, does not guarantee that they won't have the disease when they become a permanent resident.

"A combination of vaccination and routine infection control practices will provide the best protection from COVID-19 for applicants and U.S. communities," the CDC asserted.

As such, a green card applicant "must complete the COVID-19 vaccine series and provide documentation of vaccination to the civil surgeon in person" as part of their medical examination. The CDC emphasized that "Self-reported vaccine doses without written documentation are not acceptable."

It adds that applicants are required to receive the vaccine "regardless of evidence of immunity or prior COVID-19 infection."

"Laboratory tests for COVID-19 immunity must not be used for the civil surgeon exam. … The duration of immunity due to natural infection is still being investigated and might not protect the applicant throughout the immigration process," the agency said on its website.

Some Exemptions

According to the CDC, COVID-19 "meets the definition of a quarantinable communicable disease" and specifically "the definition of severe acute respiratory syndromes" under Presidential Executive Order 13674, thus making it a "Class A Inadmissible Condition."