Netherlands approves India-made COVID vaccine Covishield after Switzerland, Germany and other EU nations

The Netherlands joins nine European Union nations to approve the Serum Institute of India-manufactured Covishield anti-COVID-19 vaccine for travellers.

File photo

New Delhi: The Netherlands on Friday is the latest European Union (EU) nation to approve the Serum Institute of India-manufactured Covishield anti-COVID-19 vaccine for travellers. The move comes days after India told the EU member nations to approve of the vaccines.

In a statement issued by the government of the Netherlands in their official website, Covishield has been included in the list of approved vaccines along with the doses from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

Now, fully vaccinated people can travel to EU unless they are travelling from a country that has been designated as a very high-risk area.

The Netherlands join the nine other European nations; Switzerland, Iceland, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland, Estonia and Spain who on Thursday allowed the SII-manufactured Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine.

The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had told the European bloc to accept COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin. India reportedly offered to exempt nationals from all countries which have accepted Indian proposals — from mandatory quarantine with Indian authorities recognizing the EU green pass.

The EU green pass or European Union (EU) Digital Covid Certificate uses the European Medicines Agency (EMA) list of approved vaccines. It has only four vaccines on the list none of which are India-made. 

India also urged EU to accept the vaccination certificate issued through India's CoWIN portal.