There are not any issues with the CoWin app or the vaccine certification process, National Health Authority CEO RS Sharma said today, after a revised UK advisory accepted Covishield as a legitimate vaccine but said double-jabbed Indians still must quarantine thanks to “vaccination certification issues”.
“There aren’t any issues on CoWin with certification… system is entirely WHO compliant. We still have discussions with International Civil Aviation Organization. the united kingdom diplomat visited me on September 2. They wanted to know the system… technical aspects,” Dr Sharma told NDTV.
“A resource has been allocated and two further conversations have happened with their team. These were technical-level conversations,” he explained.
The British High Commission said: “We are engaging with Government of India to explore how we will expand UK recognition of certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India.”
The UK’s updated travel advisory now says: “Formulations of the four listed (i.e., recognised within the UK) vaccines, like AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria… qualify as approved vaccines”.
That section has been welcomed by Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla, whose facility manufactures (and then ships back to the UK) Covishield.
Mr Poonawalla told NDTV he’s “delighted” with the popularity but warned “the matter for travel and quarantine isn’t resolved”
India – on the UK’s ‘amber’ list of Covid- affected countries – still doesn’t figure in an exceedingly list of countries from where people arriving within the UK can avoid a 10-day quarantine.
Specifically, the rules for “not fully vaccinated” people strolling back from ‘amber’-listed countries still require “quarantine reception… for 10 days” and a minimum of two paid COVID-19 tests.
The UK’s new rules regarding vaccine certification get effect on October 4, at which period the ‘amber’ list are going to be scrapped, and every one countries thereon list are going to be thought to be being on the ‘red’ list. and folks from ‘red’ list countries – no matter vaccination status – must get in quarantine.
The UK’s seeming reluctance to simply accept Covishield – used there as Vaxzervria – and insistence that even people with two shots face quarantine – triggered a ‘tit-for-tat threat from India yesterday.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla called the choice “discriminatory” and said that India reserved the “right to require reciprocal measures” if the matter remains unresolved.
His comments came as government minister S Jaishankar tweeted about discussing the matter with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, while on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in ny.
Covishield already has EUA, or emergency use approval, status from the planet Health Organization.
In July there was controversy over its acceptance by the EU yet. The EMA approved Vaxzervria but not Covishield, prompting the India to warn that it’d rescind reciprocal authorisation.
