A top European Union official has said that American tourists who are fully vaccinated against covid-19 should be able to travel to Europe this summer.

US tourists who have been fully vaccinated against covid-19 will be able to travel to the EU this summer, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has told The New York Times.

The coronavirus vaccines used in the United States should enable "free movement and travel" to the EU, said von der Leyen in the interview, published on Sunday 25 April.

However the EC head did not give a time frame outlining when the existing travel restrictions might be eased.

Non-essential travel between the US and EU has been restricted since March 2020 to curb the spread of covid-19.

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"The Americans, as far as I see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines" - von der Leyen told the NYT - "This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union."

Underlining that the "situation is improving in the United States" and "hopefully, also in the European Union," von der Leyen said restrictions would be lifted depending on the epidemiological situation in the US.

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The European medicines agency (EMA) has so far authorised four vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, of which the first three are used in the US.

The US State Department last week issued “Do Not Travel” advisories for about 80 per cent of the world’s nations, reports Bloomberg, including Italy which currently has a Level 4 warning, citing "a very high level of covid-19."