9 European countries approve Covishield for a 'green pass' for travel

The decision comes amid a row regarding the vaccines that have not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) due to which Indians travelling to Europe will have to stay in quarantine even if they have been inoculated.

Nine European countries of which seven are part of European Union- Austria, Germany, Spain, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland, Estonia and two more, Iceland and Switzerland currently cleared Covishield and approved it for a 'green pass' allowing free travel to the region. The decision comes amid a row regarding the vaccines that have not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) including Covishield, an Oxford's AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. So far, the EMA has approved only four vaccines- Pfizer-BioNTech's Comirnaty, US pharma giant Moderna's Covid vaccine, the AstraZeneca jab manufactured and sold in Europe as Vaxzervria, and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen and people who have been inoculated with any of these vaccines can easily travel to Europe, reported NDTV. India has asked the EU states to accept Covishield and Covaxin, as the vaccines have been authorised by the WHO. Unless, the vaccines are approved by the European countries, Indians travelling to Europe will have to stay in quarantine even if they have been vaccinated.