News Malta Is Officially Reopen to All Vaccinated American Travelers Americans with approved vaccines are welcome in this idyllic EU country. By Cailey Rizzo Cailey Rizzo Instagram Twitter Website Cailey Rizzo is a Brooklyn-based writer who specializes in reporting on travel, culture, and the arts for Travel + Leisure. Cailey earned a master's degree in creative nonfiction writing from the University of East Anglia and a bachelor's degree in journalism from SUNY Purchase College. She also studied at UMass Amherst's Juniper Summer Institute and the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne. She has lived in New York, London, and Paris and is at work on her first novel. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines and Maya Kachroo-Levine Maya Kachroo-Levine Instagram Maya Kachroo-Levine is the luxury and experiences editor at Travel + Leisure digital. She's previously edited at Departures, Expedia, GOOD, Medium, and The Balance and written for LA Weekly, TIME, The Atlantic, Marie Claire, and Refinery29, among others. Maya has lived in Montreal, Boston, Geneva, Ithaca, N.Y., Paris, and Los Angeles, where she's currently based. She's been traveling since she was young, taking the TGV through France and riding on the back of a motorized scooter in New Delhi as a toddler. More recently, she's covered Greece, France, and Singapore's reopening on the ground, copiloted a private jet, roasted agave to make mezcal in Oaxaca, Mexico, and ventured to Sweden's Arctic Circle in the middle of winter. She loves being the first in at new hotels and improving the bloody mary mix in airport lounges (the trick is to find celery salt, FYI). Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 21, 2021 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Joanna Demarco/Getty Images As of Monday, Malta is now reopen to fully vaccinated Americans. The Mediterranean island, which was the first EU country to reach herd immunity with nearly 70% of their population vaccinated, had previously allowed Americans in on a state-by-state basis. Travel to and from the U.S. was originally limited to 38 states — excluding Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. Now, travelers who are vaccinated simply need to prove that they've received an EMA-approved vaccine, which include Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca/Oxford. American travelers must wait 14 days after their completed vaccine course before traveling to Malta. However, from August 1, 2021 forward, American's vaccination cards will need to be verified through a CDC-approved app in order to be accepted as a valid vaccine certificate. Joanna Demarco/Getty Images The country's reopening is "another step forward for Malta's Tourism Sector, which is breathing life again, after COVID-19 restrictive measures were relaxed, slowly and gradually, keeping everyone's health and safety as a topmost priority, together with ensuring that Malta still has all the right ingredients for everyone to Feel Free Again," Johann Buttigieg, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, said in a statement provided to Travel + Leisure. Malta is one of the European countries trying to lure back tourists this summer and fall. The country has launched a scheme to pay visitors who book at least a three-night stay at three- to five-star hotels. Visitors can earn up to $238 for booking three nights at a five-star hotel and those who visit the island of Gozo can earn an additional 10% incentive on top of that. Cailey Rizzo is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure, currently based in Brooklyn. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at caileyrizzo.com. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit