The unprecedented travel restrictions had raised tensions between the United States and its European allies and had kept relatives, friends and business travelers around the world separated for many months as the pandemic grinds on. In an interview in Washington with AFP, Thierry Breton, European commissioner for internal market, said the new order covers people vaccinated with jabs recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Breton said the restrictions “no longer made any sense.”Depite Europe’s relatively high vaccination rates “we are on the same restrictions as China, Iran, and other countries. The United States first imposed the restrictions as the pandemic began in March 2020 on travelers from the European Union, United Kingdom and China, later extending it to India and Brazil. However, the availability of Covid-19 vaccines has made continuing the travel ban a point of transatlantic tension.

Source: The Local September 21, 2021 08:59 UTC