EU kicks off debate on need for booster shots to travel

FILE PHOTO: A health care worker fills up a syringe with a dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for a booster shot at the vaccination reference center at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI) in Zurich, Switzerland November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union governments kicked off a debate on Tuesday about how long vaccines are effective against COVID-19 and whether evidence of a booster dose will be required to maintain free travel across the bloc as cases spike.

The executive European Commission is due to present a proposal this week to coordinate free movement using COVID-19 passes, after Austria became the first country in western Europe on Monday to reimpose a lockdown since vaccines were rolled out.