EU SET TO ALLOW VACCINATED US TOURISTS THIS SUMMER

Mon 26 April 2021:

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen says the EU will be ready to welcome anyone who has been vaccinated against COVID-19 with shots approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

“All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by EMA,” Ursula von der Leyen said in a Sunday interview with The New York Times, without specifying when the tourist travel will open up exactly.

“The Americans, as far as I see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” von der Leyen told the newspaper. “This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union.”

She said restrictions would be lifted depending on the epidemiological situation in the US.

“But the situation is improving in the United States, as it is, hopefully, also in the European Union,” von der Leyen added.

Von der Leyen’s remarks come after French President Emmanuel Macron told US broadcaster CBS earlier this month that France is finalizing plans to let in vaccinated Americans this summer.

She did mention that travel between the US and the EU will depend “on the epidemiological situation.”

So far, the EU has authorized four COVID-19 vaccines: those developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Oxford and Johnson & Johnson. Non-essential travel to the European Union has been predominantly banned amid the coronavirus pandemic, with some exceptions.

The European Commission’s chief spokesman Eric Mamer said last week commenting on tourism travel to the EU that European citizens should choose COVID-19 vaccines authorized within the bloc to fully enjoy the right to travel freely across Europe once digital green certificates are introduced.

The US currently outpaces the EU in terms of vaccinations, with 128 million doses having been administered to 21% of the EU population as of Saturday, according to the AFP news agency.

European leaders have taken steps to combat the bloc’s vaccine shortage, with the EU recently closing a deal with BioNTech- Pfizer for 1.8 billion more doses of its vaccine from this year through 2023.