WHO wants nations to accept travellers with jabs cleared by it

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 4

With many European Union nations yet to accept travellers inoculated with Covishield for unrestricted movement across the region, the WHO has urged individual countries to promote vaccine equity by recognising jabs mentioned in the world body’s emergency use listing and those approved by the 11 top regulators listed by it.

The WHO emergency use listing (EUL) includes Serum Institute of India-made Covishield, but not Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

So far, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Estonia and Switzerland have placed Covishield on their national list of approved vaccines for travel.

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Although the Digital Covid Certificate framework of the EU, rolled out on July 1, asks member nations to accept travellers inoculated with the European Medicines Agency-approved four jabs (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca version produced in the UK), the EU has said countries were free to draft their own policies too.

India this week asked EU members to accept the Covid vaccines included in the WHO EUL or the ones recognised by the drug regulator here.

Amid uncertainties over recognition of Covishield by other EU member states, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan today stressed the need for equity and shared a joint COVAX statement asking nations to accept travellers who had received a defined set of vaccines. “COVAX commends countries that have already shown commitment to equity as well as safety by accepting travellers protected by all vaccines validated by WHO EUL and/or the 11 Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRAs) approved for Covid vaccines. We call on other nations to do the same,” says the COVAX statement Swaminathan shared on her Twitter timeline.

Lists 11 top regulators too

The WHO also wants acceptance to jabs cleared by regulators of following nations

• Australia
• Belgium
• Canada
• European Union
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States