The E.U. Is Reopening to Vaccinated Visitors

The E.U. announced today that it is reopening its borders to fully vaccinated visitors or travelers from countries deemed safe by officials. The announcement could go into effect by next week. This announcement could go into effect by next week, just in time for summer tourism.

Many representatives are excited about this agreement, especially those from countries that heavily rely on tourists, like Greece who has already reopened its borders to foreign tourists in hopes to jump-start its economy. All 27 countries within the European Union agreed to this ruling, but each country does retain the right to tweak the rules in a stricter way, such as making visitors quarantine or prove a recent negative COVID test.

The European Union is keeping an emergency brake option on this ruling. The emergency brake option will allow the E.U. to easily switch back to stricter travel regulations if there is a sudden spike in cases or any other emergency created by the virus.

Which Vaccines Are Allowed?

The European Union will recognize any vaccine approved by its regulators or the World Health Organization. Those vaccines are the AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sinopharm vaccines. The United States uses Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer, so any vaccine issued in the United States is accepted by the European Union.

The list of countries deemed safe by the European Union will likely get finalized by the end of the week. If a country (like the United States) is not on the list, vaccinated individuals can still travel there, but those who are unvaccinated cannot, at least not without being tested or forced to quarantine.

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