India requests European countries to allow entry to those vaccinated with Covishield/ Covaxin

The Government of India has said once Bharat Biotech manufactured Covaxin and the Serum Institute of India manufactured Covishield are included in the EU digital certificate, India would also grant exemption to citizens from EU member states from mandatory quarantine if they are carrying EU digital certificates.

Moneycontrol News

June 30, 2021 / 09:09 PM IST

India has requested European countries to grant exemption to people who have taken Covishield and Covaxin shots -- the first two COVID-19 vaccines that had got DGCI nod for emergency use and are manufactured in the country.

European Union countries have been requested to accept vaccination certificates issued by CoWIN.

India has, in turn, vowed to institute a reciprocal policy for the recognition of EU digital certificates.

The Government of India has said once Bharat Biotech manufactured Covaxin and the Serum Institute of India manufactured Covishield are included in the EU digital certificate, India would also grant exemption to citizens from EU member states from mandatory quarantine if they are carrying EU digital certificates.

The development comes hours after Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla expressed confidence that Covishield -- developed jointly by AstraZeneca and Oxford University -- will receive the European Medicines Agency (EMA)’s approval within a month.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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