EU Relaxes Travel Restrictions on Vaccinated Americans

The European Union relaxes travel restrictions on non-EU visitors including vaccinated Americans. This is an attempt to revive the travel industry ahead of this year’s summer. Leaders from 27 EU countries agreed to loosen the criteria in determining “safe” countries.

EU is expected to release its new list either this week or next week. The UK is going to meet the new criteria according to the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. On the other hand, the US doesn’t meet these criteria, despite the progress that it has made in its vaccination rollout. However, vaccinated Americans are welcome in Europe.

Vaccinated Americans Are Welcome

The current restrictions only allow seven countries to enter countries in the European Union. This includes Australia, Israel, and Singapore. The current criterion only allows countries that have 25 new COVID cases per 100,000 people in the last 14 days. The numbers should also be stable plus there should be enough number of tests conducted. On top of that, variants are also considered. Regardless of the threshold number, it is below the EU average at 420 cases per 100,000 people.

The commission suggests changing the criteria and start accepting countries with 100 COVID cases per 100,000 people. EU ambassadors opted for 75. The good news is that inoculated individuals can still travel to the EU. However, they need to show proof that they received EU-approved vaccines. So far, the EU only approved four COVID vaccines. These are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson.

While the EU relaxes travel restrictions, the US still has the majority of the countries in its “Do Not Travel” list. However, it has changed the classification of some countries including the UK and Israel. And though the US has revived domestic travel, airline officials are not so optimistic when it comes to the resumption of international travel. One of the main concerns by the US is the introduction of new variants.