Hope to resolve soon: Adar Poonawalla on Covishield-EU ‘Green Pass’ eligibility

Adar
Poonawalla, chief executive of the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII),
on Monday said he hopes to soon resolve the issues faced by Indians inoculated
with the Covishield vaccine who are travelling to the European Union.

“I realise
that a lot of Indians who have taken Covishield are facing issues with travel
to the EU, I assure everyone, I have taken this up at the highest levels and
hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic
level with countries,” the 40-year-old said in a tweet.

The
European Union has excluded the Covishield vaccine from the eligibility list
for its upcoming ‘Green Pass’. The digital passes, which will work like ‘vaccine
certificates’ and ease cross-border travel, will be issues from July 1.

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While the EU
has urged member states to not let the type of vaccine be a factor in issuing
the passes, specifications in the ‘Green Pass’ limit its granting for only
those vaccines that have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Currently,
the EMA has approved four vaccines – Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna,
Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

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Meanwhile,
member states have the authority to grant passes for vaccines other than the
ones approved by the EMA. Iceland has said it will grant passes for vaccines
approved by both the EMA and the WHO.

Other than the
ones approved by the EMA, WHO has also green-lit the use of the Covishield,
Corona Vac and Sinopharm vaccines.