Eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions are still tripping up regular families and firms. A U.S. ban on most travelers from two dozen European countries, instituted by Donald Trump in March of last year, remains in place despite a change of president and the fact that a higher proportion of people in the European Union and U.K. are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents returning home from places including the U.S. and France must spend 21 days in hotel quarantine even if they’re vaccinated, and the city bars entry to most other people. Australia’s borders are closed, with most international travel banned.

Obviously, caution is warranted around the delta variant. But the lack of pragmatism around international travel is striking.

Although many governments have eased restrictions on movement at home, since recognizing the evidence that vaccines protect against severe forms of COVID-19, travel curbs appear to be preserved in cement.

A July report by the World Tourism Organization found that there had been no “significant” changes in curbs since Nov. 2020. For every bit of good news — Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates recently eased travel restrictions — there’s a snap-back, such as the EU’s reimposition of curbs on American travelers after a summer reprieve.

This merits urgent attention. There are emotional and economic costs to restricting travel. Most visible is the tourism industry, which suffered its worst year on record in 2020. Losses may hit $2.4 trillion this year, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Less visible are all the lives and careers that have been put on hold until travel resumes, from full-time workers and seasonal staff to international students with big future potential.

One alternative to travel bans and ineffectual rules would be to better differentiate between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. As of June, only 17% of all travel destinations worldwide specifically mentioned vaccinated passengers in their travel policy, according to the World Tourism Organization.

Research from airline lobby group International Air Transport Association also finds that two-fifths of EU states aren’t allowing in vaccinated travelers from countries deemed safe outside the bloc.

For all the caveats on transmission and waning vaccine effectiveness, there should be more openness to the vaccinated. Of course, this would mean that rich countries need to push harder to expand supply and production of vaccines in the developing world. Otherwise those without access will be unfairly punished.

The World Health Organization should also harmonize competing definitions of “full vaccination” to reduce confusion as countries roll out booster shots and third doses. More broadly, politicians need to start talking about travel as an opportunity, not just a risk. Wanting to avoid giving privileged holidaymakers a license to spread disease is perhaps justified; denying vaccinated families, students and workers a chance at normality isn’t.

No relaxation of curbs is risk-free. But this has to be balanced against the progress we’ve made so far in managing COVID-19, and the reward of improving mobility. Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Sam Fazeli is senior pharmaceuticals analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence and director of research for the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products.