Guwahati: Seven European Union countries – Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Spain – and Switzerland have cleared the Serum Institute of India’s Covishield amid travel pass row, sources have said.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EU’s top medical body, has approved only four vaccines so far – Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty, US pharma giant Moderna’s Covid vaccine, AstraZeneca shot manufactured and sold in Europe as Vaxzervria, and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen. Only those who’ve been given these shots are granted vaccination passports and allowed to travel hassle-free amid the pandemic.
Covishield, manufactured in India by the world’s largest manufacture Serum Institute of India – in partnership with the Oxford University and AstraZeneca – is not on the list. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is also not on the EMA list.
The EU does, however, also say “member states may decide to extend this (the certificate) also to EU travelers that received another vaccine”.
Under these rules, Indians – vaccinated with Covishield or Covaxin – may be subject to quarantine if they travel to the EU nations unless these vaccines are cleared by the respective countries.
On Wednesday, sources in the foreign ministry said India will begin a reciprocal policy when it comes to exemption from quarantine. This would mean that unless the European Union accepts Covishield and Covaxin certificates, their certificates will not be accepted in the country and people from EU will face mandatory quarantine upon arrival in India.
