No Application Received For Covishield Authorisation, says EU Medical Body

The lack of authorisation for Covishield is creating hurdles for Indian travellers to the EU.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not received any application from the Serum Institute of India for authorisation of Covishield, a  COVID-19 vaccine, almost a fortnight after the EU introduced the EU Digital Covid Certificate that makes intra-EU travel possible. "For the COVID19-vaccine Covishield to be evaluated for use in the EU, the developer needs to submit a formal marketing authorisation application to EMA, which to date has not been received," the EMA said at a press meeting. The EMA had earlier said minor differences in manufacturing processes could result in differences in the final product, and the EU law required assessments as part of the authorisation process. So far, the EMA has approved only those vaccinated by either of the four vaccines - Comirnaty of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna's Spikevax, Vaxzervria by AstraZeneca-Oxford and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen - for restriction-free travel within the EU during the pandemic.