Apart from the claims of efficacy, the acceptance of vaccines in different parts of the world has become a major concern for Indians. As nations, economies and even life-style tend to realign with the new norms by accepting Covid as a reality, vaccines assume equal importance as a visa now
Europe's latest 'vaccine passport program' recognises a few vaccines whose recipients will be able to travel to member states of Europe. The vaccines recognised include the AstraZeneca vaccine but not Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India.
The news of Covishield not being a part of vaccines approved by EU put millions of Indians, including students, looking at travel to EU in a tizzy. Addressing the issue, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said, "I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken Covishield are facing issues with travel to the E.U., I assure everyone, 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."
Currently, European Medicine Agency recognises only a handful of vaccines, which include Vaxzevria (Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, Oxford), Comirnaty by BioNTech-Pfizer, Spikevax (Moderna) and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).
Why did EU's Green Pass leave out Covishield?
Since Covishield is being manufactured in India with a license from AstraZeneca, its original version Vaxzevria is being manufactured outside of India and approved by EU. However, as reported in The Wire Science, the EMA confirmed that it did not receive any application for the approval of Covishield, leaving many furious at the Serum Institute of India (SII), the manufacturer of Covishield, for not applying in advance for approval by the European Medicines Agency.
Covishield has the WHO approval
Meanwhile, Covishield has the WHO approval and is also on the approval list of 130 countries. The World Health Organisation has so far given approval to eight vaccines. As of April 8, 2021, WHO evaluated and notified only four vaccines against Covid-19 that met the necessary criteria for safety and efficacy, namely Astra Zeneca/Oxford Vaccine, Johnson and Johnson's Janssen, Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine. However, Covaxin, the indegenous vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech was left out from the WHO list or EMA's approval still.
Sounds similar
Last month, the Indian government has given assurance to take up the matter. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said during a press conference, "The WHO has not taken any decision on banning people from travelling abroad who have been vaccinated with Covaxin. It is one of the most effective vaccines to date."
It remains to be seen when EMA gives its nod to Covishield, while WHO asked Bharat Biotech for more details on its vaccine.
