Americans who are fully vaccinated will soon be able to visit Europe again, according to the head of of the European Commission (EC).
Essentially, all 27 members of the European Union will accept those who’ve received vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EC, told The New York Times on Sunday. That includes vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson, the three currently being used in the U.S., according to the newspaper.
It’s not quite as certain as a statement from the head of the EC would suggest, however: the commission would first recommend the resumption of travel, but each state within the EU can still impose their own additional limitations, such as quarantines or outright blocking of visitors from outside the EU, the Times writes.
But Portugal, like other European nations heavily reliant on summer visitors, has already signaled that it wants to welcome some tourists, as soon as mid-May, Portugal’s tourism minister Rita Marques told BBC Radio in March.
When exactly Americans could be allowed into the EU isn’t clear, as von der Leyen didn’t provide a time frame, the Times writes. She added, however, that it would depend “on the epidemiological situation,” which she said was improving in the U.S. and, “hopefully,” in the E.U., according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, officials on both sides are currently working out the logistics of vaccine certificates for travel, the Times writes.
Related: Portugal’s Vaccine Progress: The Good, the Bad, Etc.
