New Zealand Recognises Covishield, Covaxin; India Waits For Announcement on Lifting of Travel Curbs

It must be noted that Covishield and Covaxin, which received emergency use listing (EUL) from the World Health Organisation, have so far been recognised by 96 countries.

New Delhi: In a decision for Indian travellers, New Zealand on Wednesday said it has recognised India’s Covishield and Covaxin and included in its list of eight recognised vaccines. Taking to Twitter, India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand Muktesh Pardeshi wrote: “In a positive decision, NZ includes #covishield and #covaxin in the list of 8 recognised vaccines. We keenly await lifting of travel restrictions. India is already open to vaccinated tourists.”

The move from New Zealand government means Indian nationals, who have taken both doses of either jab (inoculated with two doses, both from the same vaccine), will not have to undergo quarantine upon their arrival in the country. Prior to this, Australia had recognised Covishield and Covaxin on October 1 and November 1, respectively.

#IndiaNewZealand
In a positive decision, NZ includes #covishield and #covaxin in the list of 8 recognised vaccines. We keenly await lifting of travel restrictions. India is already open to vaccinated tourists.@MEAIndia @MFATNZ @DrSJaishankar @chrishipkins @AshBloomfield pic.twitter.com/2sU3uxksWC

— Muktesh Pardeshi (@MukteshPardeshi) November 17, 2021

It must be noted that both the vaccines Covishield and Covaxin, which received emergency use listing (EUL) from the World Health Organisation, have so far been recognised by 96 countries. And some of those nations include Canada, the US, Australia, Spain, the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, and Switzerland.

The development comes after India earlier this week allowed quarantine-free entry to fully vaccinated travellers from 99 countries, including the US, UK, UAE, Qatar, France and Germany. These travellers from the 99 countries have been exempted from mandatory quarantine, however, they will have to follow certain norms that remain the same for all travellers.

In the meantime, India has shared an agreement with some of the 99 nations on ‘mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates’ of nationally recognised or the WHO-recognised vaccines, according to the Centre’s notification.

It must be noted that the 99 countries are included in the ‘Category A’ list mentioned in the notification by the central government. The United States, Great Britain, Israel, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium, Bangladesh, Finland, Croatia, Hungary, Russia, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and Nepal are some of the countries that feature in the list.