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Updated May 19th, 2021 at 18:10 IST

European Union to open borders for COVID-19 vaccinated travellers: Report

The EU member states have agreed to reopen their borders to travellers who have received COVID-19 vaccination as bloc moves to ease coronavirus restrictions.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
EU
IMAGE: Unsplash | Image:self
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The European Union (EU) member states have agreed on May 19 to reopen their borders to travellers who have received COVID-19 vaccination as the bloc moves to kickstart tourism after over a year of severe coronavirus restrictions, reported the Washington Post citing EU spokesperson, Christian Wigand. However, he did not say immediately when the change would come into effect as a formal final approval is still required for the EU to start travel with a ‘health pass’ even though the passage is without any doubt. 

After it is enforced, the travellers would need to have COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the European Union. This implies that jabs present in the United States would be greenlighted while reportedly vaccines manufactured in Russia and China would not be allowed yet. As travellers produced the proof of receiving the required number of EU-approved COVID-19 vaccines, they will be allowed to enter the bloc. 

Additionally, the number of cases per 100,000 people that a country would register over the course of 14 days and still be considered for the green list will rise from 25 to 75. This would further exclude non-vaccinated travellers from the rest of the world. The decision would reopen EU tourism for business and other purposes because, for a very long time, non-EU citizens have not been allowed to enter the bloc. The Post also reported that the EU leaders will need to give formal approval next week as agreed by their ambassadors on May 19.

“Today E.U. ambassadors agreed to update the approach to travel from outside the European Union,” Wigand told reporters. The European Council “now recommends that member states ease some restrictions, in particular for those vaccinated with an E.U.-authorized vaccine.”

EU's Covid health pass to be used by June

Earlier, the European Union (EU) on May 10 said that it is “fully on track” to ensure that all its citizens and residents are able to have a free COVID-19 health pass in June to ease the travel. A European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand told a news conference that, “It will be ready for summer to facilitate safe travelling, so it will be ready to use... by the end of June.” 

Another spokesperson Johannes Bahrke reportedly added, at the time, that 18 EU nations and non-member Iceland would be testing the digital document over the course of the next two weeks to make sure that any loopholes or bugs in the process are eradicated. The health pass is viewed as an essential tool to save the European summer vacation period and allowing the nations that are dependent on tourism are able to kickstart their post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

IMAGE: Unsplash

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Published May 19th, 2021 at 18:10 IST

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