EU Digital COVID Certificate To Facilitate Free Movement Within The EU: Official

Temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU are currently in place from many non-EU countries including India, due to Covid.

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New Delhi: An official of the European Union revealed, that it has not received any request for approval of Covishield in its vaccine certificate list. The aim of the EU Digital COVID Certificate is to facilitate free movement inside the EU. This pass will be available for use from July 1. 

The news comes as there have been multiple reports that those who have taken the Serum Institute of India (SII)-produced AstraZeneca vaccine will face challenges in traveling to Europe.

According to an ANI, for the purpose of the Digital COVID Certificate, individual Member States will have the option to accept also vaccinations that have been authorized by the World Health Organization (WHO), such as Covishield.

"Concerning a possible EMA authorization for Covishield, as of yesterday, the EMA stated that it had not received a request for approval. It will examine any such request when received, as per its procedures," an official was quoted as saying by ANI.

"The EU digital certificate is meant to facilitate safe free movement during the pandemic within the region. It will serve as proof that a person was vaccinated and received a negative test result or recovered from it. It is not a pre-condition to travel," he further said.

The EMA does not investigate new drugs on its own unless it is asked by the relevant companies. The EMA which is responsible for the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products has given its nod to four Covid-19 vaccines so far: Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

Currently, there are temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU are currently in place from many non-EU countries including India, due to Covid. EU Member States shall gradually lift these temporary travel restrictions at the external borders, based on developments of the health situation.

Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla on Monday said that he will take this matter at the highest levels and try to resolve it soon.