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.
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.
He said: “We are quite confident that in a month EMA will approve Covishield. There is no reason why not to because it is based on AstraZeneca data and our product is identical to AstraZeneca (more or less) and it has been approved by WHO, UK MHRA. So, it is just a matter of time.”
The EMA has not received a request for the approval of Covishield in the ‘vaccination passport’ with the European Union, EU said a day ago, adding to the concerns of vaccinated Indians who are not being allowed entry to European countries for non-essential travel.
Meanwhile, Covaxin has inched closer to getting approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) as rolling data submission is slated to begin in July. Once data submission begins, Covaxin will be just one step away from getting the WHO nod. Only the evaluation process will be pending then, which is usually a little long-drawn.
