European Union Bans Unvaccinated Australians In New Travel Restrictions
The EU has added Australia to a list of countries that will need to be fully vaccinated before they can enter its 27 member states.
The European Union has banned unvaccinated Australians from travelling to the region in new travel restrictions.
Australia, Argentina and Canada have been removed from the 'safe list' and placed onto the 'Covid danger zone' list.
The announcement comes as Australia is currently experiencing its worst wave of the pandemic to date, with a seven-day average of more than 100,000 new cases.
Australia has reported a total of 1.8 million cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic began and 2,750 deaths.
Australians who are fully vaccinated with approved vaccines, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novavax and Moderna, are still able to travel to the countries of the EU for any purpose.
EU citizens and certain workers are exempt from the restrictions.
The 27 EU member states decided on the changes this week, adding them to other countries including Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Kuwait, New Zealand, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.
The US was taken off the list in August 2021 due to the escalating Covid-19 situation.
In total, 15 countries are on the list.
The list of approved countries is updated every fortnight and it is up to each individual EU member state to decide if it will follow the EU guidelines, as it is not a legally binding decision.
The EU has voted to make Covid Certificates valid for only nine months, meaning that a booster shot will become a requirement to travel freely across Europe in 2022.
When the pandemic began in 2020, the majority of EU nations agreed on an entry ban for non-essential travel, which now applies to unvaccinated travellers.
Australia opened its own borders in December to international students, people with working visas, returning Australian citizens and those with exemptions.
The borders had previously been closed since March 2020 when the pandemic was declared.
Vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents have been allowed to travel and return to Australia since December 2021.
The EU countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Featured Image Credit: Lazyllama / Alamy Stock PhotoHannah Blackiston