The COVID-19 pandemic has caused countries to close their borders – especially to keep Americans out.
Even the prestigious United States passport, one of the most powerful travel documents in the world, couldn’t help Americans gain access to certain places in the world during COVID-19.
But after nearly 15 months of oppressive restrictions and canceled vacations, some countries in Europe are finally allowing Americans to enter – only there’s a big catch.
While an exact timeline has not yet been presented, there are recommendations to “revive EU tourism” coming straight from the top.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen tweeted:
“Time to revive EU tourism industry & for cross-border friendships to rekindle – safely.
We propose to welcome again vaccinated visitors & those from countries with a good health situation.
But if variants emerge we have to act fast: we propose an EU emergency brake mechanism.”
Since America is far from being labeled as a country in a “good health situation,” essentially this means if you’re not vaccinated against COVID-19, you’re not welcome to visit Europe.
See but here’s the thing – many Americans are not onboard with getting the vaccine or would prefer to wait and see how the “giant experiment” plays out regarding long-term side effects before making a decision.
And that’s the beauty of America – the freedom to make individual choices on how to live one’s life.
The problem is, many countries don’t care about personal liberty or freedom – they’re used to the government telling them how to live their lives.
But here in America, the government can’t force healthy Americans to get vaccinated against their will (at least not yet).
States like New York have already introduced a vaccine passport called the “Excelsior Pass,” which only allows those who have been vaccinated to enter certain venues and events.
Other states like Texas and Florida have taken a hard line against vaccine passports – vowing to never allow such tyranny in their states.
Thankfully, in this country, there are still places where some taste of freedom still exists.
But in countries like Israel, a stark line is drawn separating the vaccinated and unvaccinated population.
Those with the “green pass” can dine inside and attend certain events while those who haven’t been vaccinated are shut out.
Sadly, other countries are about to enact the same restrictions for tourists – if they let them in at all.
Some individual EU countries like Greece have already opened up their borders to Americans provided they show proof of vaccination or present a negative PCR COVID-19 test, but as a whole, Europe has generally been off limits to Americans.
So will Americans desperate to travel again suck it up and get the COVID-19 vaccine?
Maybe some.
But for those who won’t, it looks like international travel options will be limited.
As for travel here in the United States…
…while the Biden administration claims they won’t enact a travel vaccine mandate at a federal level, his team admits they are looking into the “feasibility” of creating a COVID-19 vaccine “digital passport.”
We’ll be sure to keep you updated as more information is available.
In the meantime, I’d recommend holding off booking a European vacation until a clear opening plan is established.
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