Africa-Press – Mauritius. In a significant development, five more countries recognized India’s COVID-19 vaccination certificate on Monday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed.
According to the official, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, the State of Palestine, Mauritius and Mongolia have decided to mutually recognize vaccination certificates with India.
It is important to mention that during PM Modi’s visit to Italy, a discussion was held on mutual recognition of vaccination certificates with several nations including the European Union (EU).
Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla had revealed, “Issue of vaccination certificate was discussed especially with EU representatives. There was a conversation on mutual recognition of vaccines.
. a doable mechanism to facilitate easier international travel. . . Details will be worked out bilaterally.
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PM urges WHO to recognize Indian vaccines
In line with this, PM Modi had also urged the World Health Organisation (WHO) to recognise Indian vaccines at the earliest while promising that India will produce 5 billion doses for the world next year.
At the Global Economy and Global Health Session, the Prime Minister had highlighted the importance of India’s recent feat of crossing 1 billion jabs and said that the country had delivered medicines to more than 150 countries.
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WHO said that additional clarifications from the manufacturer were required to conduct the final EUL risk-benefit assessment for global use of Covaxin.
In a statement, the UN agency clarified, “The Technical Advisory Group for Emergency Use Listing (TAG-EUL) expects the clarification from Bharat Biotech by end of this week and thus will reconvene for the final risk-benefit assessment on Wednesday, 3 November.
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When it comes to Covishield, last month there was a massive row over the recognization of the vaccine – which is a formulation of Oxford-AstraZeneca- in the UK. Although the matter was mutually resolved, the UK regulatory authority did not accept India’s vaccine certificates, generated by Cowin.
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Australia recognises Covaxin
Meanwhile, in a big win on Monday, Australia recognised Covaxin as one of the approved vaccines for travellers wishing to enter the country.
Issuing a statement, the Australian Department of Health added Covaxin (for age 12 and above) and Sinopharm (for age 18 to 60) to the list of accepted/recognised vaccines.
Even as the indigenous vaccine awaits WHO’s approval, it has been approved by Australia, Mauritius, Oman, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iran, Mexico, Greece, Estonia and Zimbabwe.
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