Greece bows to EU pressure, requires test for Russian tourists
By Sarantis Michalopoulos
Jun 28, 2021
Following criticism by Germany and France for being too lax with tourists and particularly for recognising Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, Greece has decided to require a PCR test for Russian tourists even if they are fully vaccinated with the Russian jab.
“There is, therefore, no issue for Russian citizens who are vaccinated to come without having to undergo a screening procedure and additional tests,” Theocharis said.
See more: Greece recognises Sputnik as ‘equivalent’ to European vaccines
The EU COVID-19 certificate only recognises vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, namely Pfizer, J&J, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
However, it allows a country to recognise other vaccines if they have been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or by the regulatory authorities of other EU member states.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has not been authorised by the WHO but other European countries such as Hungary have done so.
Continue reading at www.euractiv.com
