External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar suggested on Thursday that, in the future, nations should work together on COVID-19 accination 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 clearance to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin by September.
Jaishankar stated at a plenary session of the CII Annual Meeting that the world stood by India during the second wave of the Covid epidemic, particularly in terms of oxygen supply and medicines, just as the country had supported others during the first wave of the pandemic.
While asked about the necessity for global vaccination passports and the challenges that Indians experience when travelling abroad, he replied that most of the travel barrier is based on conjecture rather than facts.
“The US does not require vaccination to enter the country; instead, you must be RT-PCR negative before boarding an aircraft. There is now an issue with India, since they are not allowing those who have lived in India for a specific amount of time to travel directly to the United States,” Jaishankar made a point.
“I would argue that the usual practise (for international travel) is still testing-based rather than vaccination-based,” he added.
The issue emerged, according to Jaishankar, when Europe began sending notifications exempting people with specific types of vaccines from quarantine.
“We took up that matter directly with a number of European nations and made sure that Covishield, which had previously been excluded, was included,” he added.
Travel to Europe for individuals who have taken Covaxin is still an issue, 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 hoping that we will have some type of indication (on clearance for Covaxin) sometime in September,” Jaishankar said.
He claimed that the regulator has only recognised a restricted selection of vaccinations, and that if countries only accept people who have had such vaccines, only a small number of foreigners will be allowed to enter.
“So, in my opinion, the remedy will have to be some sort of understanding about vaccination certificates rather than vaccinations. There is precedence for this in the case of yellow fever, where certifications were issued,” he said.
These discussions are starting to gain steam, according to Jaishankar, and the International Civil Aviation Organization has been holding similar discussions.
However, the minister noted that he sees the problem as a difficulty since certain nations “would attempt to persuade people that their vaccines are required.”
There will be a “push and pull” out here, he said, and India, as a nation whose citizens view the globe as a global workplace where mobility and migration are so important, will make it a priority to ensure that Indians can travel freely.
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