EU agency clarifies stand on India-made Covishield not making it to its digital green certificate

eu There is news about the exclusion of Covishield in the list of approved vaccines for the digital green certificate, which is an EU-wide travel pass. This news has left many worried in India.

Referring to this, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has now stated that the Covishield vaccine does not currently have a marketing authorisation in Europe, and that the matter would be considered when an application is received for it.
However, a source in the know-how added that the green pass that has been launched to ensure hassle-free travel in and between the member states, is not necessary for those travelling from outside of the European Union. The EU source elaborated that the aim of the EU Digital Covid Certificate will facilitate free movement inside the member nations, and that it is not a pre-condition to travel. The certificate will serve as a proof that a person is vaccinated against COVID-19, or has received a negative test result, or has recovered from COVID-19.
As of now, four vaccines -- Comirnaty of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Vaxzervria by AstraZeneca-Oxford, and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen -- have been approved by the EMA for the EU Digital Covid Certificate.
“In the EU, the vaccine called Covishield does not currently have a marketing authorisation. Even though it may use an analogous production technology to Vaxzevria (the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine authorised in the EU), Covishield as such is not currently approved under EU rules,” the official said.

Elaborating more on this, the official added, “This is because vaccines are biological products. Even tiny differences in the manufacturing conditions can result in differences in the final product, and EU law, therefore, requires the manufacturing sites and production process to be assessed and approved as part of the authorisation process. Should we receive a marketing authorization application for Covishield or should any change to the approved manufacturing sites for Vaxzevria be approved, we would communicate about it.”