EU 'Green Pass' not a pre-condition for travel to the region, clarifies official

Amiti Sen Updated - December 06, 2021 at 04:56 AM.

SII needs to submit an approval request for Covishield with European Medicine Agency to be accepted for the Green Pass.

Tamil Nadu, Chennai, 16/06/2021 : In an effort to reach out all stakeholders for mass vaccination, a special vaccination drive was organised by the health officials of Zone - 10 (Kodambakkam) of the Greater Chennai Corporation at Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex in Chennai in the early hours on Wednesday, A health worker administers a dose of the Covishield vaccine to vaccinate truck and lorry drivers from other districts and neighbouring States, vaccination drive to inoculate senior citizen and people 45 year with co-morbidities. Photo : Jothi Ramalingam .B / The Hindu

The European Union (EU) has not made the EU Green Pass a pre-condition for travel to the region, and individual member states will have the option to accept also vaccinations that have been authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) such as Covishield, official sources in the EU have said.

For being recognised by the European Medicine Agency (EMA) as an approved vaccine for the EU Green Pass, that will be operational from July 1, the Serum Institute of India (SII) needs to put in a request for approval for Covishield that it did not do as of Monday (June 28), the official told BusinessLine .

With Covishield not in ‘Green Pass’ list, Adar Poonawalla says issues will be resolved soon

“The EU Digital COVID Certificate (EU Green Pass) is meant to facilitate safe free movement during the Covid-19 pandemic within the EU. It will serve as proof that a person was vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from Covid-19. The aim is to facilitate free movement inside the EU. It is not a pre-condition to travel,” the official said.

Individual Member States will also have the option to accept vaccinations that have been authorised by the WHO, such as Covishield, for issuance of Digital Covid Certificates, the official added.

‘India must first decode impact of EU Green Pass’

Many EU members have imposed temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU from many non-EU countries, including India, due to Covid-19, the official pointed out. “The EU countries shall gradually lift these temporary travel restrictions as the Covid-19 situation develops and it is considered safe to do so,” he said.

On the possibility of extending EMA authorisation to Covishield, the source said that the regulatory body had noted that till June 28, it had not got any request from approval from Pune-based SII that manufacturers the vaccine in India. As the EMA does not investigate new drugs on its own, for being approved, the relevant companies have to approach it at their initiative.

The four vaccines that the EMA has approved by the EMA for the EU Green Pass include Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

While the WHO has approved Covishield, efforts are on to get WHO approval for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

Published on June 29, 2021 09:58