Travelers immunized with Covishield may be ineligible for the European Union’s ‘Green Pass,’ which will be available on July 1. Many EU member states have begun to issue digital ‘vaccine passports,’ which will allow Europeans to travel freely for work or tourism. The immunity passport will serve as proof that a person has been immunized against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), has recently tested negative for the virus, or has natural immunity from a previous infection.
While the European Union previously stated that member states should issue the certificates regardless of the type of Covid-19 vaccine used, the technical specifications of the ‘Green Pass’ indicate that the obligation would be limited to ‘vaccines that have received EU-wide marketing authorization.’
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has currently approved four vaccines for use in EU member states: Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca), and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).
The EMA has not approved Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), for the European market. The EU green pass will only recognize the Vaxzervria version of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in the United Kingdom or other locations throughout Europe.
Iceland will grant visa-free entry to those who have been immunised with one of the vaccines approved by the EMA or the WHO. In addition to the EMA-approved vaccines, the UN health agency has added Covishield, CoronaVac, and Sinopharm to its Emergency Use List.
On the other hand, France has clarified that it will facilitate easy entry for those vaccinated with one of the EMA-approved vaccines, and not others, like the Russian and Indian vaccines.
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