Fully vaccinated Americans set to be permitted to visit EU this summer

Ireland currently has its own set of unique restrictions in place for inbound travelers.

In an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, said: “The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines. 

“This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union.”

She added: “Because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by EMA.”

The vaccines currently in use across the United States - Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson - have all been approved by the EMA.

Von der Leyen did, however, note that the resumption of travel would depend “on the epidemiological situation, but the situation is improving in the United States, as it is, hopefully, also improving in the European Union.”

While Von der Leyen's comments offer a promising outlook for European travel this summer for Americans, the New York Times does note that individual EU member states, such as Ireland, "may reserve to right to keep stricter limits."

Ireland, for instance, does not currently apply the temporary suspension of non-essential travel into Ireland from non-EU countries, such as the US.

Instead, Ireland has its own set of restrictions for passengers arriving into the country.

As it stands, all passengers arriving in Ireland must complete a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form and provide evidence of a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours before arrival into Ireland. There are some limited legal exceptions.

If you are traveling into Ireland from or via a designated "high risk" state, then you must also pre-book and pre-pay for a place in a designated facility for mandatory hotel quarantine. 

However, fully vaccinated travelers who can provide documentation of their vaccination do not have to complete the mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival in Ireland. Any dependents traveling with a fully vaccinated traveler, including children, will also be exempted from the requirement to complete mandatory hotel quarantine

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs continues to advise against all non-essential travel in or out of the country.