Published on : Monday, April 26, 2021
American tourists who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to visit the European Union over the summer, said the head of the bloc’s executive body, more than a year after shutting down unnecessary travel from most countries to restrain the spread of the corona virus.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission said, “The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines. This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union.”
“Because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by E.M.A.,” she added. The agency, the bloc’s drugs regulator, has approved all three vaccines being used in the US, namely the Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson shots.
Ms. von der Leyen did not offer the details as to when tourist travel might open up or how it would occur. However, her statements make it clear that the current travel restrictions are set to change on the basis of vaccination certificates.
She added that travel recommencement would depend “on the epidemiological situation, but the situation is improving in the United States, as it is, hopefully, also improving in the European Union.”
Technical discussions are going on for several weeks between the European Union and United States officials on how to practically and technologically make vaccine certificates from each place broadly readable so that citizens can use them for traveling without restrictions.
Countries like Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Croatia that welcome millions of American tourists each summer, and depend highly on them for income and jobs, are set to jump at the opportunity to reopen to the American tourism market with the E.U.’s blessing.
Tags: american tourists
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