New Delhi: India has asked the members of the European Union to individually consider allowing Indians who have taken Covishield and Covaxin vaccines and want to travel to Europe, sources said.
India has requested the EU member nations to accept the vaccination certificate issued through CoWIN portal, sources said.
Sources in the foreign ministry said India will begin a reciprocal policy when it comes to exemption from quarantine. This would mean that unless the European Union accepts Covishield and Covaxin certificates, their certificates will not be accepted in the country and people from EU will face mandatory quarantine upon arrival in India.
European Union has been told that Covishield and Covaxin must be notified in its digital Covid certificate, sources said.
As per news reports, Covishield and Covaxin may not be a part of the vaccines approved by EU for travel to member states, and there are apprehensions that Indians will not be able to travel to Europe under the scheme.
India had approved Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in January this year for use in country’s vaccination programme against COVID-19.
Under the new “Green Pass” scheme, people vaccinated with Covishield are unlikely to be allowed to travel to the member states of European Union.
The EU countries accept only the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, which are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. But Covishield, which is the Indian version of AstraZeneca, is yet to get their clearance.
