European Union opens external borders to travellers fully vaccinated against Covid

BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) has recommended to open its external borders to non-essential travel into the bloc if travellers have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The Council of the EU, representing the 27 member states, adopted a recommendation that eases the Covid-19 restrictions for non-EU travellers whose origin countries report no more than 75 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days. Before the criteria were updated on Thursday, the upper limit was 25 cases.

EU member states are now encouraged to waive testing or quarantine for third-country travellers who have received the last dose of a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency. The drugs regulator has so far greenlighted four vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

EU countries could also lift the restriction on non-essential travel to those who have received the last recommended dose of a vaccine on the list of the World Health Organization for emergency use.

An emergency brake mechanism is created, and reciprocity should be taken into account case by case, said the EU Council.

The decision was made on the basis of a proposal presented by the European Commission in early May, which aims to salvage the bloc's tourism industry as vaccination campaigns are progressing worldwide. (IANS)

Also Read: Over a fourth of European Union adults 'unlikely' to get Covid vaccinations

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