France allows travellers vaccinated with Covishield to enter country

Along with some more European countries, France has also decided to allow travellers who have been vaccinated with the India-made coronavirus vaccine, Covishield.

While the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet recognised AstraZeneca’s Covishield for the 'Green Pass'. However, several European countries have now allowed travellers who have been vaccinated with Covishield to enter the country.

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France has accepted the vaccine "because the vaccines are effective against the virus, and in particular its variant Delta, the constraints weighing on travellers benefiting from a complete vaccination schedule with a vaccine recognised by the European Medicines Agency (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Janssen) will be raised from this Saturday, July 17, regardless of the country of origin," French Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a statement.

Other countries that have accepted Serum Institute India’s Covishield vaccine are Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Iceland.

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As of now, the EMA has approves Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for 'Green Pass'.

This has come at a time when travellers from France have been asked to self-isolate while entering the UK even if they have been fully vaccinated. It has been announced as scientific experts are raising alarms against the emergence of the Beta variant, which is widely spreading in France.