Switzerland, Germany, six other EU countries include Covishield in ‘Green Pass’ list

Eight European Union states have included Covishield in the list of vaccines approved for entry into the region, shortly after India warned of retaliation when none of its vaccines were added to the ‘Green Pass’. The eight countries include Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland. These countries will exempt those vaccinated with Covishield from travel curbs and mandatory quarantine. What led to a tussle between India and EU? India had said on Wednesday that it would recognise EU’s digital Covid certificate on a reciprocal basis and would not accept it until the 27-member EU does the same for Indian vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin. New Delhi also said it will adopt a policy of reciprocity and exempt European nationals holding the ‘Green Pass’ from mandatory quarantine if its request to recognise Covishield and Covaxin vaccines are heeded to. India had raised the issue with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and France, had also asked EU member states to individually consider extending a similar exemption. An EU official had said that individual member states can also accept vaccines that have been authorised at the national level or those approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Sources told PTI that India has requested the EU member nations to accept the vaccination certificate issued through the CoWIN portal. What is the ‘Green Pass’?* The EU Digital Covid Certificate or ‘green pass’, which will be required for travel in the EU from 1 July, will allow those who have taken two doses of a vaccine on its list to travel to Europe and exempt them from mandatory quarantine.

• The certificate includes information such as name, date of birth, date of issuance, the name of the vaccine or the details of the negative test result or recovery from Covid-19. Which other vaccines feature in the ‘Green Pass’ list? The EMA list includes four vaccines other than Covishield — Vaxzevria (Oxford-AstraZeneca), Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech), Spikevax (Moderna) and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).