European Vacation? EU To Allow Vaccinated Americans To Visit This Summer

For Americans looking to travel abroad this summer, a COVID vaccination will likely be a necessity to visit any of the 27 European Union member states.

In an interview Sunday with the New York Times, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, suggested that Americans would be able to return to the EU, but they would most likely need proof of full vaccination through a vaccine certificate showing immunity from COVID-19.

Some ideas being considered for vaccination certificates include receiving an EU vaccine certificate on arrival into Europe upon showing a valid U.S. vaccine ID, the Times reported. The EU currently has been issuing digital green certificates for residents that show when an individual has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, tested negative, or recovered from the virus to allow for travel within the EU bloc.

The move by the EU comes as the U.S. has accelerated its COVID vaccination pace with more than 94.7 million Americans fully inoculated from the virus as of Monday, representing 28.5% of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” von der Leyen told the Times, “This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union."

“Because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by E.M.A.” she continued, referring to the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccines that have also received EU approval.

While von der Leyen was confident on the possibility of opening travel between the U.S. and the European Union, which had banned all nonessential travel from the states, she did not provide a date for when travel would reopen or details on how it would happen. But rather, her comments gave American tourists hope for summer travel plans to Europe if vaccination certificates can be nailed down with certainty.

Discussions between the EU and the U.S. have been ongoing as the countries determine the best course of action to reopening travel, but von der Leyen told the Times that the situation in the U.S. is “on track” as it moves toward vaccinating 70% of adults by mid-June.

However, she said that the resumption of travel does depend “on the epidemiological situation, but the situation is improving in the United States, as it is, hopefully, also improving in the European Union.” But this is an area of contention in Europe, as countries such as tourist-dependent Greece argue that it does not determine “safety,” according to the Times.