Europe, Switzerland, Iceland, and seven EU Nations namely Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Estonia, and Spain approved the Covishield vaccine of India for travel entry. Switzerland has also allowed Covishield for the Schengen state.
Moreover, Estonia has also confirmed that it will recognize all the vaccines authorized by the Government of India for the travel of Indians to Estonia, said sources.
The announcement comes a day after India requested European Union to accept COVID-19 vaccines, such as Covishield and Covaxin, for Indian nationals traveling to Europe, Switzerland, Iceland, and seven European Union countries.
Slovenia, a country in Central Europe, said that they would allow entry to even those who have received their first vaccine dose of Covishield, provided “at least 21 days have passed since the first dose of the Covishield vaccine by the Serum Institute of India/AstraZeneca.”
Austria mentions that a Covishield vaccination certificate is valid if one of the following conditions is met:
- 22 days, and no more than 3 months, have elapsed from dose 1 of 2;
- The second dose of vaccine has been received, and no more than 9 months have elapsed since the time of the first dose;
- 22 days, and no more than 9 months, have elapsed after vaccination in the case of vaccines for which only one dose is scheduled.
According to diplomatic sources, Indian travelers who have been administered the Covishield vaccine can now get a green pass to enter Switzerland.
The Spanish authorities lay down that they would be accepting certificates of vaccination issued by the competent authorities or medical service and mention, “The certificate of vaccination should be valid from 14 days after the date of administration of the last dose of the complete vaccination schedule.”
“The vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency, as well as those that have completed the World Health Organisation’s emergency use process, are accepted. Currently, these vaccines are those produced by Pfizer-Biontech, Moderna, Astra-Zeneca, Jansen/Johnson&Johnson, Sinovac, and Sinopharm.”
A German Embassy spokesperson has said that versions of European Union (EU)-approved vaccines that have been approved abroad are equivalent to the mentioned EU-approved vaccines for proof of COVID-19 vaccine protection.
Iceland mentions that for AstraZeneca the two doses have to be at least four weeks apart.
It may be noted that an EU official on Tuesday said that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not received any request for approval of authorization for Covishield.