The White House on Friday will lift Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated international visitors starting Nov 8, ending historic restrictions that had barred much of the world from entering the United States for as long as 21 months.

The unprecedented travel restrictions kept millions of visitors out of the United States from China, Canada, Mexico, India, Brazil, much of Europe and elsewhere; shrunk US tourism; and hurt border community economies. They prevented many loved ones and foreign workers from reuniting with families.

"Oh how I've missed Christmas in NY," Alexandros Koronakis, an executive with AT&T Inc in Brussels, wrote on Twitter.

US allies had...