No EU ‘Green Pass’ for India-Made AstraZeneca Covishield Vaccine

The ‘Green Pass’, available from 1 July, will serve as proof that the individual has been vaccinated against COVID.

A health worker shows the ‘Covishield’ vaccine after the arrival of the first batch of the vaccines from the Serum Institute of India at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. Image used for representational purposes only.

(Photo: PTI)

Under Europe’s new ‘vaccine passport’ scheme, travellers vaccinated with Covishield may not be eligible for hurdle-free travelling as allowed by the ‘Green Pass’, because the programme recognises AstraZeneca, and not the derivation manufactured in India, The Wire Science reported.

The immunity passport or ‘Green Pass’, available from 1 July, will serve as proof that the individual has been vaccinated against COVID-19, or has recently tested negative against it, or has natural immunity build up from an earlier version.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has so far cleared four vaccines – Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca manufactured in the UK and EU countries), and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

Covishield, which is manufactured at Pune-based Serum Institute of India, is derived from the AstraZeneca shot and has been excluded from the list. Bharat Biotech’s vaccine Covaxin has also been not listed in the approved list.

What is the Purpose of EU’s COVID-19 Passport?

The EU Green Pass, a digital certificate, was introduced by the European Union in a bid to restore freedom of travel for the public and is encouraging members to remove the barriers to entry placed due to COVID-19.

From 1 July onwards, those who hold the Green Pass will not need to quarantine or test for COVID when entering a EU country. However, individual countries may impose restrictions depending on their currently infection rate/case load.

There are three types of EU’s COVID-19 passport/Green Pass launched:

• Vaccination passport

• Test certificate

• Recovery certificate

According to schengenvisainfo.com, individuals who have recently been infected with COVID-19 and have recovered from it should also be permitted to travel with an EU COVID travel certificate.

‘Hope to Resolve Soon’: Adar Poonawalla

Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla on Monday, 28 June, tweeted that he has taken up the issue of Covishield being excluded from the list “at the highest levels and hopes to resolve this matter soon".

Covishield Vs Vaxzevria

Vaxzevria, as the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is known as outside India, is produced by India-based Serum Institute, South Korea-based SK Biosciences, as well as AstraZeneca at four sites, The Wire Science reported.

The World Health Organization has given its nod to AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria and its corresponding versions, including Covishield.

SII in November 2020 had started a clinical trial with 1,600 participants for Covishield, wherein the vaccine’s immunogenicity levels had been compared with that of Vaxzevria, according to the report. While the results of this trial are not out yet, available data suggests that both the shots have comparable levels of antibodies.

Countries Accepting/Issuing Green Pass

EU Country	Will be Issuing EU Green Pass	Effectively Issuising EU Green Pass
Austria	Yes	Yes
Belgium	Yes	Yes
Bulgaria	Yes	Yes
Croatia	Yes	Yes
Cyprus	Yes	No
Czechia	Yes	Yes
Denmark	Yes	Yes
Estonia	Yes	Yes
Finland	Yes	Yes
France	Yes	Yes
Germany	Yes	Yes
Greece	Yes	Yes
Hungary	Yes	No
Ireland	Yes	No
Italy	Yes	Yes
Latvia	Yes	Yes
Lithuania	Yes	Yes
Luxembourg	Yes	Yes
Malta	Yes	No
The Netherlands	Yes	No
Poland	Yes	Yes
Portugal	Yes	Yes
Romania	Yes	No
Slovakia	Yes	No
Slovenia	Yes	No
Spain	Yes	Yes
Sweden	Yes	No

Other than the above EU countries, non-EU countries like Iceland and Norway are also accepting and issuing Green Pass certificates.

(With inputs from The Wire Science.)