Hope to resolve Covishield-EU issue soon, says Adar Poonawalla

Source: The Hindu

What is the news? Serum Institute of India (SII) Chief Executive Officer has raised the issue of the European Union’s (EU) ‘Green Pass’ at the highest level in the EU.

What is the issue?

A lot of Indian travellers, who are vaccinated with Covishield may not be eligible for the European Union’s ‘green pass’. Thus, they are facing issues in travelling to the EU. It is because, only the ones inoculated with EMA-recognised vaccines will be able to claim this “digital passport”.

Serum Institute of India’s COVID-19 vaccine has been excluded from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) list of approved vaccines for the European Union (EU) Green Pass.

Whereas, Vaxzervria – the version of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine that is manufactured in the UK or other sites around Europe, has been included by EMA.

What is EU’s green pass?

Europe’s new ‘vaccine passport’ programme is also called Green Pass. It is a digital or paper document that indicates whether individuals have received a COVID-19 vaccination or, in some cases, recently tested negative for COVID-19.

This document facilitates easy travel within and to the group of countries in European Union.