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Amid controversy over the United Kingdom's non-recognition of India's CoWIN-issued COVID-19 vaccine certificates, National Health Authority CEO Ram Sewak Sharma on Wednesday, 22 September, stated that he is not aware of any concerns raised by the UK about India's CoWIN digital certification.
Asked about the controversy surrounding the vaccine certificate issued by CoWIN, Sharma said in the interview that there was one "minor issue" concerning the date of birth on the certificate. While CoWIN only collects the year of birth, the WHO standards recommend (optionally) the mention of the full date of birth.
Sharma, however, asserted that CoWIN users can register their full date of birth and download their certificate containing the necessary details, for the purpose of foreign travel.
The British High Commissioner had met Sharma on 2 Sepember to understand the architecture of CoWIN. Two meetings had been held between the CoWIN team and British officials wherein technical aspects of their vaccination processes – such as the working of the digital platforms and the issuance of certificates – were discussed, news agency ANI reported.
After backlash over non-recognition of AstraZeneca's Covishield in its new travel advisory released on Tuesday, 21 September, the UK, in its updated travel guidelines issued on Wednesday, 22 September, has included Serum Institute of India (SII)-manufactured Covishield in its list of recognised vaccines.
"Formulation of the four listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Modern Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines," the updated UK guidelines state.
The implication is that those Indians who have received Covishield will still be considered 'unvaccinated,' and will have to undertake a 10-day quarantine upon entry into the UK. They would also need to take a pre-travel COVID-19 test and another test upon arrival into the country.
"We are engaging with the Government of India to explore how we could expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India," a British High Commission spokesperson was quoted as saying by ANI, in a statement that suggests that the obstruction relates to the vaccine certificate.
(With inputs from CNBC-TV18 and ANI)
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