France Travel Restrictions to Be Lifted for Vaccinated Travellers in May

France Travel Update: Restrictions to Be Lifted for Vaccinated Travellers in May

Things are looking up for vaccinated American travellers. Several European nations have announced restrictions are lifted to third-country nationals especially those vaccinated American tourists.

In an interview, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France is finalising plans to start its lifting restrictions on non-EU travellers, including those from the US, within the next few weeks.

France’s president revealed that French ministers are “finalising the technical discussions” over how best to begin easing restrictions, with officials working to develop a system that would enable vaccinated French, European and also American citizens to travel more freely this summer.

We will progressively lift the restrictions of the beginning of May. We are working hard to propose a very concrete solution especially for US citizens who are vaccinated. So, with a special pass, I would say.
Emmanuel Macron, French President

Macron said that officials are currently creating a testing and/or vaccine certificate to help facilitate travel between European nations, signalling that France will rely upon some variation of a so-called “vaccine passport” to restart foreign travel.

The idea, indeed, is altogether to offer that to the American citizen when they decide to vaccinate or with a PCR test being negative. So, the idea is, indeed, to always control the virus, to maximize the vaccination and to progressively lift the restrictions.

Infection Surge

At the moment, France is itself currently contending with another wave of COVID-19 infection and in the midst of its third national lockdown since the pandemic began. In a televised national address given at the end of March, Macron attributed this latest surge to the spread of new COVID-19 variants, which are even more transmissible than the virus’ previous strains and have essentially created what he called “an epidemic within an epidemic”.

This most recent surge in France is also fueled by the country’s lag in getting its residents vaccinated, but Macron said that Europe’s vaccine production has accelerated and immunization efforts have gained momentum, so that France should now, hopefully, be on track to meet its targets.

Imposed Travel Restriction

Due to surging infection rates in other nations, the French authorities will tightly restrict who can travel to France from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and South Africa starting 24 April. The authorities will also impose a 10-day quarantine on those who do, in the hope of fending off worrisome coronavirus variants circulating in these countries.

This announcement on 17 April adds to a shifting patchwork of international restrictions that have complicated travel around the world. The decision adds to a complex tangle of rules and policies about international travel that can vary widely from country to country and month to month.

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