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Indian students abroad: Adar Poonawalla donates ₹10 cr for quarantine facility
Only those who have been fully vaccinated in the UK, EU, or the USA will be exempt from quarantine, meaning they would have received the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or Johnson and Johnson vaccine
With Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, the Indian version of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, still not approved for travel without quarantine in some countries, the CEO of the company Adar Poonawalla has set aside ₹10 crore to fund the mandatory quarantine of Indian students studying abroad.
“Dear students travelling abroad, as a few countries are yet to approve COVISHIELD as an acceptable vaccine for travel without quarantine, you may have to incur some costs. I have set aside Rs10 crore for this, apply below for financial support if needed,” said Poonawalla in a tweet on Thursday morning.
Poonawalla has donated 1 million pound to a crowd funding scheme started by a news channel. Even though India has been moved to the amber list from the red list in the UK, students will still have to undergo a 10-day quarantine at a place of their choosing. Only those who have been fully vaccinated in the UK, EU, or the USA will be exempt from quarantine, meaning they would have received the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
Also Read | Serum Institute joins hands with CII to accelerate vaccination in rural areas
Although Covishield has emergency use listing from the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is yet to get approval from the European Medicines Agency. Currently, the vaccine is accepted by over 30 countries. The other vaccine currently in use in India, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, is yet to receive an emergency use listing from WHO. Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech on Thursday announced that Covaxin has received a certificate of good manufacturing practices compliance from Hungarian authorities.
“Bharat Biotech intends to submit documentation for emergency use authorisation in several additional countries worldwide,” the company said in a release.
