HomeNewsTrendsHealthGermany to recognise Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for travel from June 1

Germany to recognise Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for travel from June 1

German Ambassador to India and Bhutan, Walter J Lindner on Thursday said the government of the European nation will start recognizing Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine for travel purpose there from June 1.

May 26, 2022 / 14:07 IST
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​(File image: Vial of Covaxin)
​(File image: Vial of Covaxin)

German Ambassador to India and Bhutan, Walter J Lindner on Thursday said the government of the European nation will start recognizing Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine for travel purpose there from June 1.

In a tweet, Lindner said, "Very happy that GER government just decided to recognize WHO-listed Covaxin for travels to GER, starting June 1! This Embassy has been pushing very actively for such decision (because of Covid-backlogs visa sections have longer waiting periods than normal, please have patience)."

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In November last year, the World Health Organisation recommended Emergency Use Listing (EUL) status for Covaxin.

Several countries including Australia, Japan and Canada allow passengers vaccinated with Covaxin into those countries.

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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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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first published: May 26, 2022 02:07 pm

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