The European Commission said Monday it wants members to open their countries to COVID-19 vaccinated travelers.
Many European nations rely on tourists from the U.S. and other places to support their economies, and many are admitting travelers with proof of a negative test, so the EU sees this as a logical next step.
“This reflects the latest scientific advice showing that vaccination considerably helps to break the transmission chain,” the commission said.
A person would be considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the last recommended dose of a vaccine that’s received market-authorization in the EU.
Europe is working on a vaccine passport, or Digital Green Certificate, though countries will have to accept other forms of proof until that is up and running.
Like other places, the EU had limited travel throughout the yearlong pandemic. Yet the ongoing damage from restrictions and progress from vaccination are compelling countries to rethink their rules.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently told the cruise industry, which is anxious to resume, that it can probably start sailing again by midsummer.
The commission in Europe said it is worried about dangerous mutations in the virus, so they proposed a fallback plan to tighten things again as necessary.
“The emergence of coronavirus variants of concern calls for continued vigilance,” it said. “Therefore as counter-balance, the commission proposes a new ‘emergency brake’ mechanism, to be coordinated at EU level and which would limit the risk of such variants entering the EU.”
The threat of variants from elsewhere is the main threat to countries will low transmission rates or seeing progress due to vaccination. That’s why the U.S. and other places banned travel from India as it sees an unprecedented surge that may be fueled by variants.
Australia recently took things to an extreme, saying as of Monday even its citizens could not enter from India. The decision outraged Indian-Australians and others who said it was without precedent.
