Indian, Russian vaccines not valid? US varsities urge students to take fresh jab

Washington: Colleges and universities in the United States have asked students who received either Indian-made Covaxin or Russia's Sputnik vaccine from India to be vaccinated again. As neither of these vaccines is listed in the World Health Organisation's Emergency Use Listing, students in US colleges and universities are being asked to inject different vaccines before the start of the autumn semester.

The 25-year-old Milloni Doshi, a Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs student, said that the university has demanded her to take another vaccine to enter campus despite having received two doses of Covaxin already.

She added that she was concerned about taking two different vaccines. The New York Times reported that numerous colleges and universities in the US require people to be vaccinated over vaccines that have not been approved by the World Health Organization, including Sputnik V and Covaxin. Such colleges and universities point to a lack of information on the effectiveness and safety of these vaccines.