Amid concerns regarding Covishield’s validity in Europe, 9 EU countries have come forward to approve the covid vaccine in their regions.
The update comes as a relief to people vaccinated with Covishield and intending to visit Europe. The nations that have cleared Serum Institute of India’s vaccine include Austria, Slovenia, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Estonia, Iceland, Spain and Greece.
Till now, EU’s top medical body, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given the green light to only 4 vaccines- US-based Moderna’s covid jab, Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen and AstraZeneca-manufactured vaccine sold under the name Vaxzervria in Europe. People innoculated with these vaccines only are allowed free travel in the continent and will be eligible to receive “vaccination passports” or “green passes” that permit them to enter Europe despite the pandemic.
Indian vaccines including SII in alliance with Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are not a part of the approved vaccines, leaving those vaccinated with these 2 vaccines ineligible for the green pass.
However, as per a clause of the EUA’s statement, “member states may decide to extend this (the certificate) also to EU travellers that received another vaccine”. It implicates that Indians inoculated with either Covishield or Covaxin might have to complete a quarantine period when they land in the EU nation. The need for quarantine will be ruled out if nations approve these vaccines individually, it further stated. The 9 countries in picture approved Covishield under this rule.
Reacting to the norms put forth by Europe, sources in the Indian foreign ministry told on Wednesday that India will bring a reciprocal policy into implementation if EU is adamant with its quarantine rules. Under this, India will bring in mandatory quarantine for people coming from Europe if the EU doesn’t allow those inoculated with Covishield or Covaxin to enter their country.
On Wednesday, SII’s CEO Adar Poonawalla said the pharmaceutical giant is hopeful of European Union’s approval for Covishield to arrive in a few weeks’ time.
Speaking at the India Global Forum, Mr Poonawalla said the Serum Institute of India applied for Covishield through AstraZeneca, its partner in developing the vaccine. It’s “just a matter of time” before EU approves Covishield as it has already been cleared by the World Health Organization and the United Kingdom’s drug regulator, he added.
The CEO of SII had tweeted on Monday assuring those vaccinated with Covishield that the EU approval will be achieved soon. “….I have taken this up at the highest levels and hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic level with countries,” it read.
According to a top EU official, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar spoke about the Covishield-EU issue with Josep Borrell Fontelles when they met on Tuesday.
Opposing to the use of a “vaccine passport”, the Indian government had criticized the idea last month during a meeting amongst the health ministers from G7 nations. Soon after the meeting, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan posted on Twitter that vaccine passports might prove to be “highly discriminatory” for developing countries who have not covered as many people as developed countries in their vaccination drive due to the population. “Expressed India’s concern and strong opposition to “vaccine passport” at this juncture of the pandemic…,” his tweet read.
