Washington | A White House official said, on Wednesday, that the United States, whose borders remain closed to large numbers of foreign travelers, plans to eventually reopen to fully vaccinated people.

The source said Washington is developing “a phased approach that means, with limited exceptions, that all foreign nationals coming to the United States – from all countries – must be fully immunized,” without giving a timeline.

The official said working groups dedicated to this issue are “working to develop a policy to be ready, when the time comes, to move forward toward this new system.”

The tone is very cautious, but it is nonetheless an evolution for the United States, which still on July 26 does not want to hear about tests or vaccines to reopen its borders.

Currently, travelers from Europe, India, Brazil or China cannot enter the United States, except for specific compelling reasons.

Washington has so far been deaf to calls for reciprocity from Europeans in particular.

While EU countries have decided to reopen their borders to Americans, provided they are vaccinated against Covid-19 or test negative, travelers from the Schengen area, from the UK and Ireland have not been able to enter the US since March 2020.

More details to come.