The Netherlands has become the 8th European Union (EU) nation to recognise India-made Covishield vaccine as a valid proof of vaccination. Prepared by Serum Institute of India (SII)-manufactured Covishield vaccine was earlier not approved by the EU. Fully vaccinated travellers can visit EU nations unless they are travelling from a very high-risk country region due to the presence of the new COVID variant.
As per the government of the Netherlands website, Covishield is now a part of the approved vaccines along with Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer-BioNTech. Before this, EU nations including Iceland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland, Estonia and Spain confirmed that they are accepting Covishield for travel entry.
Earlier there were apprehensions that people who took Covishield and Covaxin vaccines in India are not eligible to travel to the EU states under their 'Green Pass' scheme. The EU Digital Covid certificate or 'Green Pass' is mandatory to travel to European nations. The digital document will serve as a proof of vaccination.
The 27-member European Union introduced the EU Digital COVID Certificate to facilitate safe free movement during the pandemic. The pass came into effect on July 1.
