E-Paper
List of 96 countries that recognise Indian vaccine certificates to grow: MEA
There are 96 countries that have agreements with India for mutual recognition of vaccination certificates including the US, the UK, Australia, Bangladesh, Egypt, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Russia.
NEW DELHI: India has agreements with 96 countries for mutual recognition of vaccination certificates for individuals vaccinated with nationally recognised or World Health Organization (WHO)-recognised Covid-19 vaccines and the list is set to grow following the global health body’s approval for Covaxin.
The indigenously developed and manufactured Covaxin was accorded emergency use listing (EUL) by WHO on November 3. Covaxin and Covishield, the Indian variant of the AstraZeneca vaccine, are the two main jabs used in the country’s immunisation programme.
“We feel that this should ease international travel of those vaccinated with Covaxin. Many countries recognise WHO-approved vaccines. Now, with Covaxin joining this list, that should become automatic,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a weekly news briefing.
“Some countries had issued individual orders for individual vaccines, and they perhaps need to issue separate orders for Covaxin. We are taking up this matter with those countries,” he said.
Certain countries also accorded national regulatory clearance to Covaxin even before the vaccine’s clearance by WHO, he pointed out.
According to the external affairs ministry’s website, there are 96 countries in the “Category A” list, which includes countries “with which government of India has agreement for mutual recognition [of] vaccination certificate for individuals fully vaccinated with nationally recognised or WHO-recognised Covid-19 vaccines and those exempting Indian citizens fully vaccinated with nationally recognised or WHO-recognised vaccines”.
The list includes the US, the UK, Australia, Bangladesh, Egypt, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Russia. Fully vaccinated citizens of these 96 countries can enter India without quarantine, Bagchi said.
Responding to a question on India’s “Vaccine Maitri” initiative, Bagchi said the country resumed overseas supplies of Covid-19 vaccines while keeping domestic requirements in mind. Some shipments of vaccines have taken place, and others were in the pipeline, including through the WHO-backed COVAX facility.
