Europe Opens to Vaccinated Americans As Early as June 7th!

by Miles Jackson

We know these countries are already welcoming vaccinated travelers, but there’s even better news on the horizon! Summer travel just started looking better! According to the European Commission’s head, fully vaccinated Americans will be allowed to visit the 27 Schengen member states, as reported by The New York Times. Yes, it has been announced plans as Europe opens to vaccinated Americans this summer!

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that travelers who’ve been fully vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be welcomed into Spain, regardless of their country of origin, starting June 7th! The country is participating in a pilot program for the EU’s digital COVID-19 health certificate (find out more).

One of the reasons for the EU reopening to US travelers is the rapid speed of European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines. In addition, the potential introduction of a vaccine certificate, which the European Travel Commission has been pressing for some time. Combined this creates the perfect scenario for re-opening EU travel to vaccinated Americans.

Recently, rollout efforts for the EU-wide “Digital Green Certificates” (another form of Digital Health Passport) have taken another step forward, with member states deciding on the plans’ key technical requirements.

But Americans may start traveling to the European Union as early as June 7th. Interested in seeing Paris? Based on a recent statement by France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Macron has laid out a plan allowing foreign tourists with a  digital health pass to visit France again starting June 9th.

In a recent CBS’ Face the Nation interview, Macron expressed a concerted effort for Americans. “We are working hard to propose a very concrete solution, especially for U.S. citizens who are vaccinated.

Global ReOpenings

We are providing a series on global reopenings from the COVID-19 pandemic. My first installment was Europe reopenings and restrictions.

These Countries Are Welcoming Vaccinated Travelers – The Latest List

Reopenings – Europe Coronavirus Travel Restrictions by Country

South America Coronavirus Travel Restrictions & Reopenings by Country

Reopenings – Latin America Coronavirus Travel Restrictions by Country

Coronavirus Domestic Travel Restrictions – USA States, Cities

Europe Open to Vaccinated Americans This Summer: 27 Countries

These are 27 Countries That Are Part Of The European Union

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
Some countries are pre-emptively moving forward on accepting international travelers. On May 4, Italy’s Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, announced plans for Italy to produce a national “green pass,” ahead of the European Union’s predicted vaccine passport scheme.
The pass will show that the holder has either been vaccinated, has recovered from COVID, or has tested negative.
Draghi confirmed that tourists will qualify for the pass. He said the country hopes to launch it mid-May, though as of May 14, no details have been announced.

Logistics How Vaccinated Americans Can Visit Europe to be Determined

Digital Health Passport App Travel Banner

Will Digital Health Passport Apps Open the Doors to International Air Travel?

When a traveler arrives in Europe and displays evidence of a vaccination certificate issued by the US government, a “low-tech” E.U. vaccine certificate-equivalent may be used as a temporary alternative. Foreign-issued certificates would then become valid in Europe over time (and vice versa).

Currently, about 140 million Americans have received at least one injection of a COVID-19 vaccine. This estimates that approximately 94.8 million Americans are completely vaccinated. In other words, 42 percent of the population has received at least one injection and 29 percent are fully vaccinated. According to The Times, over the last two weeks, the United States has averaged 58,353 new daily cases, which is a 16 percent drop from the previous comparable time.

In an interview with The Times on Sunday, EU President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized this is made possible as the United States is administering

European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines [making] free movement and the travel to the European Union [possible.] All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by E.M.A.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen

Vaccinations which are currently approved the European Medicines Agency include those by Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.

CDC Needs to Revise Policy

Meanwhile, the US government needs to act in concert with the European Union’s initiative. In short, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a policy statement stating fully vaccinated Americans can resume travel at low risk to themselves. However, the CDC is still not recommending travel given rising coronavirus case counts. Additionally, even vaccinated travelers must comply with the CDC order, issued in January, requiring a negative coronavirus test to board international flights to the United States.

A logical conclusion is if the EU is accepting fully vaccinated passengers as low-risk the US government should as well. Arguments follow they should accordingly drop the mandatory testing for inbound passengers as well. Accordingly, testing requirement has created additional burden of expense and time on American travelers. In some cases, Americans have been left stranded abroad, due to lack of access of testing or delayed results reporting.

The travel industry has been calling on the CDC and President Biden’s administration to revise this requirement. They are asking for a policy which reflects the increased safety afforded fully vaccinated travelers.

This news follows on the announcement of several countries (some EU members) to allow vaccinated Americans to visit. These include Croatia, Greece, Iceland Spain and others. Although international travel may never be the same; this is a huge step in getting global travel closer to a new normal.

Ready, Set, Go!

Departures Vaccinated Americans Europe

Ready, Set, Go! Europe Opens to Vaccinated Americans

American tourists who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to visit the European Union starting this summer; perhaps as early as June 7th!

Check out the best travel credit cards to get right now! These could help you pay much less for that air travel. You should also check out the best credit card offers with hotel perks, benefits and earnings. Together, these will help you pay for some of your trip and provide extra value to your stays.

Through our Juicy Miles booking assistance site, we have seen a pent up demand for international travel, so this is a great development. Asia needs to move the needle on vaccinations and adopting some form of digital health passport.  so fully vaccinated travelers can visit sooner, rather than later.

As Europe opens for vaccinated Americans, Where are you looking to travel?

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4 comments

George May 2, 2021 - 12:32 pm

Non-vaccinated US traveller here. (Not planning on getting vaccinated either, haven’t seen a reason to bother).

Traveling full time now, no sure why people worry about this sort of stuff.
So weird.

Plan to be in Europe this Fall like last year.

Our governments have shown themselves to be epic failures, so, we’re just ignoring them now.
Much higher happiness than when we assumed they knew what they were doing.

Reply
Miles Jackson May 2, 2021 - 4:40 pm

George-
I certainly respect your position, but your available destinations are limited, unless you have found a way around certain entry restrictions.
Europe plans to open up in June for vaccinated Americans.

Reply
Jean May 12, 2021 - 8:48 am

Miles, I believe I read recently that Italy will accept US travelers is they have had a negative COVID test. There may be other countries that will join them in that acceptance as well.

Reply
Miles Jackson May 15, 2021 - 7:27 pm

Jean-
True. On May 4, Italy’s Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, announced plans for Italy to produce a national “green pass,” ahead of the European Union’s predicted vaccine passport scheme.

Reply

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