There is no ban on India’s Covishield vaccine, European Union (EU) Ambassador to India, Ugo Astuto clarified on Tuesday. Emphasizing that the EU has set up a new system of Digital Covid certificate, Astuto said this is chiefly to facilitate travel within the EU.
“It is to clarify there is no ban on Covishield,” Astuto said. “We have set up in place a new system of Digital Covid certificate to facilitate travel within the European Union.”
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As per Ugo, the digital Covid certificate proves that a person is vaccinated against Covid-19 or received a negative test or recovered from the infection due to the virus. “Although this is meant as a facilitator, it is not a precondition for travel,” he clarified.
People who are not inoculated should still be allowed to travel, subject to the usual restrictions such as testing, quarantining and physical distancing measures associated with the Covid-19 health policy, Ugo added.
The European bloc comprising 27 members introduced the EU Digital Covid vaccination certificate to facilitate safe and free movement during the pandemic within the EU.
Press Trust of India reported that the certificate will act as evidence that an individual was inoculated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from Covid-19.
It is quite apparent that the certificate is aimed at facilitating free movement inside the EU countries and not a pre-condition to travel.
As per the PTI report, member states of the EU will have the option to get inoculated even with a vaccine like Covishield (manufactured by Serum Institute of India) that has been authorised by the WHO.
