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Sunday, March 17, 2024

Switzerland, 7 European Union members approve Covishield for Green Pass.

A vial of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is produced in India and marketed as Covishield

At least seven European countries, including Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, and Switzerland, have approved the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine for Green Pass.

The EU Digital COVID certificate or ‘Green Pass’ will be mandatory to travel to European countries, and the document will prove that a person is vaccinated against COVID-19.

The EMA had earlier cleared only four vaccines – Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) for the green pass.

The development comes a day after India asked the members of the 27-nation grouping to individually consider allowing Indians who have taken Covishield and Covaxin vaccines.

New Delhi also conveyed to the EU member states that it will adopt a reciprocity policy and exempt European nationals holding the ‘Green Pass’ from mandatory quarantine if its request to recognize Covishield and Covaxin vaccines is heeded.

The European Union’s Digital COVID certificate or “Green Pass” is set to be rolled out on July 1 to facilitate free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under this framework, persons who have taken vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be exempted from travel restrictions within the EU region.

Earlier, an EU official had said that the individual member states have the flexibility also to accept vaccines that have been authorized at the national level or those approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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