Washington – France is finalizing plans to lift restrictions on Americans traveling to the country who have received COVID-19 vaccines, French President Emmanuel Macron said, as the nation faces another increase in coronavirus cases.
“We will gradually lift the restrictions in early May, which means we will organize in the summer with our professionals in France for European French citizens, but also for American citizens,” Macron said in an interview with “Face the Nation” aired Sunday. “So we’re working hard to come up with a very concrete solution, especially for U.S. citizens who are vaccinated, so I’d say with a special pass.”
France is currently in its third national closure, as it fights another wave of coronavirus infections, with schools closed until the end of April, limited travel and banned meetings. In a national televised speech late last month, Macron attributed the latest wave to new variants of coronavirus, which are more contagious and have created “an epidemic within an epidemic.”
The number of deaths in France from coronavirus exceeded 100,000 and there have been more than 5.3 million confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Macron said on Sunday that French ministers “end technical discussions” to ease restrictions and officials draw up a certificate to facilitate travel between European countries with tests and vaccines.
“The idea is to actually offer it to the American citizen when they decide to get vaccinated or with a negative PCR test,” he said. “So the idea is to always control the virus, maximize vaccination, and gradually lift restrictions.”
The most recent increase in coronavirus cases in France is due to the vaccine in the country. But Macron said Europe is catching up, with accelerated production, positioning France to meet its vaccination targets. However, some members of the European Union are considering securing their own supplies of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine, which has not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency.
Asked whether he would buy the vaccine from Russia, Macron noted that European health authorities have not yet allowed it, so the vaccine cannot be used on French soil.
“At this stage, the Russian vaccine is not recognized by our authorities,” he said. “Therefore, I do not think that the Russian vaccine today is a solution to an acceleration because it will take time to have the authorization of the European agency and it will take time to produce such a vaccine on our continent.”
In addition to facilitating the vaccination of French citizens, Macron said “it is not enough to focus on rich countries.”
“I think by June we will have to send a maximum dose of vaccine, which is a tiny part of what we get to vaccinate health care workers in Africa,” he said. “It’s very limited, but these guys are working hard to preserve the health care system and that’s something we can do. And the same in Latin America. After the summer, we’ll speed up those deliveries. We’ll speed up that solidarity. And besides, what we need to provide is to finance these economies as well. “