EU to open borders for jabbed visitors

As the summer tourist season approached, the EU took a step towards opening its borders to vaccinated tourists.

However, formal approval from the National leaders is expected to come soon.

The decision was taken by 27 ambassadors from each state; however, it isn’t yet clear when tourists will be allowed to visit Europe.

The 27 ambassadors representing EU states proposed changes in the current travel policy and allowed non-essential visits to the bloc by tourists who are fully vaccinated – in other words, both doses of a two-dose vaccine or one in the case of the Johnson & Johnson injection.

However, on the unresolved question of how will travellers be able to prove they have been vaccinated, the EU said it will be up to individual member states to decide what evidence they will accept.

The EU currently has a small “safe list” of countries from where travellers are allowed in for non-essential reasons due to its little or no COVID19 positivity ratio. The list includes Australia, New Zealand and Israel.

The UK is expected to be formally added to this list on Friday although some EU countries, including France, have already jumped ahead and allowed non-essential travel from the UK.

But, the entry policy of the travellers is decided on by each member state.

The ban on tourism was imposed back in March 2020 which seems to be lifted now after the decision and increasing pressure from certain European countries such as Greece and Spain depend heavily on tourism.