The European Union wants to lift national restrictions on travel and allow free entry to Europe for all fully vaccinated travelers. Naturally, only for vaccines recognized in the EU. Tests will still be needed for anyone who has been vaccinated with a vaccine that is not recognized in the EU. According to the European Commission, the bloc should focus on the status of tourist vaccinations, rather than on geographical ranking.
However, until the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) issued a formal statement on the effectiveness of the various vaccines approved for travel within the EU, a proposal to change the rules for the movement of tourists was postponed indefinitely.
However, according to Bloomberg, the EU proposal will include changes related to the traffic light system and the validity of vaccination passports – the EU Health Agency has proposed amendments to the rules and restrictions on travel in kovid, as the current color marking system significantly restricts freedom movement of tourists.
After several meetings with EU health professionals, the European Center invited Member States to introduce uniform rules of entry based on vaccinations and a certificate confirming the status of the patient. This means that those vaccinated and re-infected with the covid are no longer afraid of restrictions on freedom of movement, even if their country of origin is considered to be dangerous. In other words, if there is a vaccination certificate with a mark of approved vaccination or a certificate of the disease, tourists will be allowed to enter Europe from everywhere, even from high-risk countries.
In addition, it is envisaged that the proposal will also contain instructions on the validity of vaccination passports. The EU Commission plans to make COVID-19 vaccination passports valid only for 12 months after receiving the second dose. However, it has not yet been approved whether fully vaccinated travelers will have to get another vaccination in a year.
In this regard, the Greek authorities have offered their option – to make a mark on revaccination in the certificates. However, the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis offered vaccinated tourists to be revaccinated six months after receiving the second component of the antiquated drug. Yes, in their opinion, travel through the EU bloc will be safer.
Like the Prime Minister of Greece, ECDC Director Andrea Ammon said that all countries should focus on booster injections: “There are still too many people at risk of severe COVID-19 infection that we need to protect as soon as possible. We urgently need to focus on bridging the immune gap, offering booster doses to all adults and resuming non-drug measures.”