Covishield excluded from European Union’s ‘Green Pass’ eligibility list

June 28: In a worrisome development for Indians who have taken two doses of Covishield. Serum Institute of India manufactured Covishield has been excluded from the list of Covid-19 vaccines eligible to avail European Union (EU) ‘Green Pass’. The ‘Green Pass’ is for unrestricted movement in EU member states for business and tourism purposes. The pass would be granted to those who have been inoculated with any of the vaccines that have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

However, in an address to those beneficiaries from India who are facing issues with travel after taking Covishield, CEO of Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla tweeted, “I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken COVISHIELD are facing issues with travel to the E.U., 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.”

I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken COVISHIELD are facing issues with travel to the E.U., 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.

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) June 28, 2021

While the European Union had earlier said that member states should issue the certificates regardless of the type of Covid-19 vaccine, the technical specifications of the ‘Green Pass’ indicate that obligation would be limited to “vaccines that have received EU-wide marketing authorization.” The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has so far cleared four vaccines – Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).