Merkel hopeful on Europe summer travel even without vaccine

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Europeans can look forward to traveling this summer if coronavirus cases keep declining on the continent

BERLIN -- Europeans can look forward to traveling this summer, if coronavirus cases keep declining further on the continent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday. While the European Union is developing a vaccine certificate valid throughout the 27-nation bloc, summer vacations abroad should be possible again even for people who haven't had their shots against the coronavirus, she said. “If you look at the low incidence (of COVID-19) that some of our European partner countries already have,...then I'm very hopeful that we can also generally afford to do what was possible last summer, too," Merkel said. She cited the sharp drop in COVID-19 cases in Portugal in recent months after the country imposed a drastic lockdown.