Ursula von der Leyen Urges the US to Open Borders

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged US officials to lift its travel ban on EU travelers. The Biden administration is under a lot of pressure to lift the travel ban. The Trump administration placed a travel ban in March 2020 when the COVID19 pandemic started.

The European Union has already welcomed US travelers. This is also true for the UK recently allowing vaccinated Americans to skip quarantine. The main reason why US borders remain closed for most travelers is because of the Delta variant cases. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is concerned with states with low vaccination rates.

Border Control is Not an Effective Long-Term Solution?

In an article by the Financial Times, they quoted experts who believe that border restrictions won’t stop variants from being introduced to a country in the long term. The scientists said that “Maintaining long-term border controls or reduced travel is likely to be expensive, and only delay rather than prevent importation”.

Despite travel protocols having the ability to reduce imported cases, there are still other factors to consider. Scientists believe that there are different factors that can affect the transmission of variants. This includes the volume of cases in a country.

In their paper: “Requiring travelers to be vaccinated may also reduce the risk of importation if vaccination continues to protect against infection”.

von der Leyen: EU Has Similar “Epidemiological situation” as the US

European Commission President von der Leyen said that the US and EU have a similar “epidemiological situation”. She added that they should solve the problem as soon as possible and are “in contact with our American friends”.

Since the UK lifted its travel ban on US travelers, there is now pressure on the US to reciprocate these actions. Stafford COO Stuart Procter said that “we need America to say people can go to the UK”.

Unfortunately, the US placed the UK and other European countries under Level 4 travel advisory. This is the highest travel advisory by the US state department.