European countries including, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland and Spain, and Switzerland have approved the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine for ‘Green Pass’. This comes after India has asked the European countries to allow entry to Indians vaccinated with Covishield or Covaxin.
The Green Pass has been rolled out on July 1 to facilitate free movement during the pandemic in the European countries. The document will serve as a proof that a person is vaccinated against COVID-19.
Earlier only four vaccines namely Comirnaty (BioNTech, Pfizer), Moderna, Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, Oxford) and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) were included in the pass. On Monday, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said that he was in touch with EU regulators and at a diplomatic level with different countries to resolve Covishield’s exclusion. EU added that EMA does not investigate any drugs unless they are asked to do so by the companies and said that the member states of the EU have the option to accept vaccinations authorized by the WHO.
New Delhi has also conveyed to the EU member states that it will adopt a policy of reciprocity and exempt European nationals holding the ‘Green Pass’ from mandatory quarantine after the inclusion of Covishield and Covaxin into EU ‘Green Pass’.
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