- People fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should be allowed to enter EU
- Currently the European Medicines Agency has granted emergency approval for Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson
- Yravelers will only be allowed to enter EU if they are coming from a country with a ‘good epidemiological situation’
People fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should be allowed travel to and within the European Union, provided that the coronavirus outbreak has been sufficiently quelled in the country they are traveling from, the European Commission (EC) said today.
The EC today advised the European Union countries to lift restrictions on “non-essential” travel for foreigners who have received all necessary doses of a vaccine authorized for use within the EU, at least 14 days before arrival. Brussels added that states could choose to extend the guideline to include all vaccines that have been signed off by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use. Currently the European Medicines Agency has granted emergency approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson jabs.
The proposal also said that European Union states that choose to waive coronavirus testing or quarantine requirements for vaccinated EU citizens should extend the policy to vaccinated travelers from outside the bloc.
However, travelers will only be allowed to enter the European Union if they are coming from a country with a “good epidemiological situation.” The bloc’s executive leadership said that as the health crisis improves worldwide, it hopes to raise the threshold of new coronavirus cases used to determine which countries will be greenlit for cross-border travel. The list will be reviewed and updated every two weeks.
The EC said that until its ‘green certificate’ vaccine passport system is fully implemented, member states should accept proof of vaccination from non-EU countries, provided the documentation can be authenticated and contains all relevant data. Member states could create web portals that will allow foreign travelers to ask for recognition of a vaccine passport from a non-EU state, as well as request a green certificate once it comes into use.
