France &14 other EU countries recognises Covishield for vaccine pass

Now15 EU member countries have recognise the Covishield vaccine for allowing entry to travellers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden already have already cleared the vaccine. France is that latest adition.  France will consider people fully vaccinated one week after they received their second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca shots, instead of 14 days previously, and 28 days after their Johnson & Johnson jab. The country will also accept vaccination by Covishield, a copy of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India, for its health pass, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a statement on Saturday.

The country would require people not fully vaccinated and arriving from some European countries to show a negative Covid test taken within the previous 24 hours. Arrivals from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and the Netherlands will be subject to the new rule, which comes into effect at midnight Saturday into Sunday, Castex said. People arriving from the United Kingdom are required to show a negative test taken within the past 48 hours. Arrivals from Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Greece have had to show tests taken within 72 hours.

But Castex said that people who are fully vaccinated with a jab recognised by the European Medicines Agency -- Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson -- will not be required to show a test. The statement said the exemption was in place because "vaccines are effective against the virus, and in particular its variant Delta". The government also said that Tunisia, Mozambique, Cuba and Indonesia will be added to France's red list. Travel from red-list countries is only allowed on pressing grounds and even then vaccinated travellers must self-isolate for seven days. Around 35.5 million people -- just over half of France's population -- have received at least one vaccine dose so far. Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and owner of the Serum Institute of India (SII), on Saturday said he it was good news that Covishield - India-made version of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - is now recognised and accepted by European countries as an acceptable vaccine for entry. However, he cautioned travellers to follow travel advisories that differ from country to country.