India-made AstraZeneca faces approval hurdles

It has been reported that up to five million Britons will not qualify for the EU's vaccine passport scheme because the AstraZeneca shots they received were manufactured in India.

Under the EU vaccine passport scheme, people given the Indian-made AstraZeneca jab produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) would not automatically avoid quarantine and obligatory testing when roving in Europe.

The SII shot, known as Covishield, offers the same protection as the British-made one, but the company has not sought approval from the European Medicines Agency.

The EU vaccine passport, launched on Thursday to ease travel in the 30-country European Economic Area, only recognises jabs approved by the European regulator.

However, it has been reported elsewhere that nine European countries - Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Estonia and Switzerland - will accept the India-made version of the AstraZeneca jab.

Also known as the EU digital Covid certificate, it enables travellers to prove they have been fully vaccinated recently tested negative or fully recovered from the virus.

The certificate – an app storing individual data – should mean travellers can avoid quarantine or tests when travelling through 27 EU countries, plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

However, EU governments can flex the rules, by allowing travellers with vaccines approved by the World Health Organization to use the passport.

The WHO has listed Covishield, so travellers with this vaccine could benefit from the EU passport if a member state uses the longer list of WHO-approved vaccines.

The restrictions are an extra headache for British travellers, who already face tight limits and a hotch-potch of fast-changing rules to enter the European Union.

The UK has not been added to the EU travel green list – a non-binding recommendation to allow travel – because of fears about the surge in cases of the Delta variant.

The EU this week added 10 countries to the list, including Azerbaijan, Canada and Saudi Arabia, but not the UK.

Despite efforts to agree to common EU rules on travel, member states remain in charge of controlling their borders. Southern European countries that are heavily dependent on tourism, such as Greece and Spain, have rejected calls from the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, for all British tourists to be quarantined on arrival.

Portugal has hinted it could reverse its decision on quarantine-free breaks for British holidaymakers.