Some European Countries Soon Won’t Accept Travelers Without Booster Shots

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Two nations in the European Union have begun new travel rules that could soon impact visitors from the U.S.

Croatia and Austria have both changed their rules for entry such that people traveling to either country are only considered ‘fully vaccinated’ against COVID-19 if their second dose was given less than 270 days ago (roughly 9 months).

The Irish Mirror reports that those attempting to enter Austria or Croatia will no longer be considered fully vaccinated if more than 270 days have passed since their last shot.

Here are the updated rules for the two countries:

Austria

Croatia

This comes about as the effectiveness of the original COVID vaccines has been shown to wane with time, especially against the more contagious delta variant. Booster shots are suggested and even in the U.S., the CDC is recommending that people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised should now receive an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine after the initial 2 doses.

For Americans who are not immunocompromised, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is developing a plan to offer COVID booster shots beginning the week of September 20, 2021. Although the original plan was for booster shots to be available 8 months after an individual’s second dose, it sounds as if they will soon begin promoting Covid boosters 6 months after, not 8.

With Croatia and Austria requiring visitors to have booster shots roughly 9 months after their most recent, and the U.S. offering shots 6 months after, it should just be a matter of proper timing to ensure trips to the two countries can be successful and in accordance with their updated rules.

No word on whether or not other countries in the EU will follow suit, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they did.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary