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BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The European Commission said
on Tuesday it would make sense for the United States to allow
travel by people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca
COVID-19 shots which have yet to be approved by U.S. regulators.
On Monday, the White House said it would lift restrictions
from November that bar EU citizens, including those fully
vaccinated, from traveling to the United States. It was not
clear which vaccinations would be considered acceptable by U.S.
authorities.
"We believe the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe," Eric Mamer, a
spokesperson for the EU Commission, told a news conference.
"From our point of view, obviously it would make sense for
people who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca to be able to
travel," the spokesperson added, noting that this, however, was
a decision for the U.S. authorities.
The regulatory U.S. Food and Drug Administration has so far
authorised for use the COVID-19 vaccines produced by
Pfizer/BioNTech , Moderna and Johnson
& Johnson, but is still reviewing the AstraZeneca shot.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is approved for use in the 27 EU
countries where about 70 million shots have been administered
cumulatively, according to public data.
The EU has its own safe-travel list, from which the U.S. was
recently removed after a spike in cases there.
Most EU countries do not accept foreign nationals vaccinated
with shots which are not authorised at EU level.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Catherine Evans
and Bernadette Baum)