New Delhi: After India formally requested European Union nations to include SII’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in their exemption list for the passport, 8 nations have given go-ahead to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield).
Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Spain are the seven EU member countries that accepted COVISHIELD vaccine on Thursday.
India asked EU nations to accept Covid-19 vaccines authorised by WHO or national authorities including Covishield and Covaxin, so that Indian nationals could travel to Europe without hassles. It also told EU member states that it would exempt their vaccinated people from mandatory quarantine if they recognise Indian vaccines and vaccination certificates.
The European Union has a framework for facilitating free movement of vaccinated people within the EU. Under this framework, it issues EU Digital Covid Certificate to those who can travel without restrictions.
Persons who have received Covid-19 vaccines that have been authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be exempted from travel restrictions within the EU. However, Individual EU nations have the flexibility to accept vaccines that have been authorised at the national level or by the WHO.
Till date, only 4 vaccines namely Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Vaxzervria by AstraZeneca-Oxford and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen have got approval of European Medicines Agency (EMA). Those inoculated with these vaccines get Covid-19 vaccination certificate and have the flexibility of travelling in European nations during the pandemic.
