External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar suggested on Thursday that, in the future, nations should work together on COVID-19 vaccination certificates rather than specific vaccines for international travel, but acknowledged that this would be difficult because some countries will argue that their vaccines are required. Jaishankar also expressed optimism that the World Health Organization will give its approval to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin by September.
Jaishankar stated during a plenary session of the CII Annual Meeting that the world stood by India during the second wave of the Covid pandemic, particularly in terms of oxygen supply and medicines, just as the country had assisted others during the first wave of the pandemic. While asked about the necessity for global vaccine passports and the issues that Indians encounter when travelling abroad, he noted that much of the travel hindrance is based on assumption rather than facts.
“The US does not require you to be vaccinated in order to enter the country; instead, it requires you to be RT-PCR negative before boarding an aircraft. There is currently an issue with India, since they are not allowing persons who have lived in India for a particular period of time to travel directly to the United States “Jaishankar made a point.
“I would suggest that, for the time being, the prevailing practise (for international travel) is still testing-based rather than vaccination-based “he stated.
The issue occurred, according to Jaishankar, when Europe began providing notifications exempting persons with particular types of vaccinations from quarantine. He explained, “We took up that matter bilaterally with a whole bunch of European countries and made sure that Covishield, which was first omitted, is included.”
Travel to Europe for persons who have taken Covaxin is still a difficulty, he said, but he was optimistic that this would change once the WHO approved it.
“The WHO typically takes two months or more to look at this, and Covaxin filed its application on July 9, so I am hopeful that we will have some form of indication (on Covaxin approval) sometime in September.” “Jaishankar expressed his thoughts.
He stated that the regulator has only recognised a restricted set of vaccines, and that if countries only accept those who have had such vaccines, only a small number of foreigners will be able to enter. “So, in my perspective, the remedy will have to be some sort of understanding about vaccination certificates rather than vaccines. There is precedent for this in the case of yellow fever, where certifications were issued “he stated.
These discussions are starting to gain pace, according to Jaishankar, and the International Civil Aviation Organization has been conducting similar discussions. However, the minister stated that he sees the matter as a difficulty because certain countries “would try to persuade people that their vaccines are mandatory.”
There will be a “pull and push” dynamic “He argued that, as a country whose people saw the world as a global workplace where mobility and migration are so important, it would be a priority for India to ensure that Indians may travel freely.
