16 European countries recognise Covishield as acceptable vaccine, says Adar Poonawalla
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New Delhi: CEO of the Serum Institute of India(SII), Adar Poonawalla on Saturday said that 16 European countries have recognised Covishield to be an acceptable vaccine for entry.
The European nations that accepted Covishield are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and France, reported ANI.
Earlier, the European Union had excluded the India-made version of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine from its vaccine passport and asked individual nations to make the decision for themselves.
France is the latest nation to accept Covishield. France's Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs travel advisory said that fully vaccinated travellers are no longer subject to restrictions to travel to or from France, whatever the country of departure is. "We nonetheless strongly advise against travel from France to countries on the red list," he added.
He tweeted that it is good news for travellers that 16 European countries recognise Covishield as an acceptable vaccine for entry. However, entry guidelines might vary from country to country. He added that people should read the guidelines and follow them even though they are vaccinated.
11 out of 27 members of the EU have refused to add Covishield as an acceptable vaccine even though the European version Vaxzevria is accepted. The WHO also has approved Covishield along with Comirnaty (Pfizer), Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), Spikevax (Moderna), Sinopharm, and Sinovac-CoronaVac
Innovative medicines are evaluated by European Medicines Agency (EMA) and authorized by the European Commission. On July 15, the EMA said that it had not received Serum Institute's application to authorise Covishield even two weeks after the EU introduced the EU Digital Covid Certificate.
Adar Poonawalla said that the marketing authorisation application is for a manufacturer who intends to sell its vaccine in the country. "We can not apply because we are not selling Covisheild in Europe. We have no plans to export our vaccine." He added that Astra-Zeneca is working with the EMA to get approval in other EU nations.