Is Covishield Exclusion From EU’s Green Pass Eligibility List A Matter Of Racism?Some People Think So

We’re living through a pandemic and as unreal as that sounds, we’re surviving it. After the second wave of the pandemic, there is no denying that people all around the country are scared and for all the right reasons. Even after urging everyone to stay indoors and wear a mask, there are a lot of them who don’t. This along with many other reasons have been the cause of the second wave and if not careful, then the third wave seems inevitable. 

One thing that gives us hope amidst the pandemic is that we are trying to pace up our vaccine drive. Even though some people are hesitant about taking the vaccine (thanks to all the rumors, myths, and misinformation that is being spread through social media), most of us have gone ahead and taken a jab, if we can get an appointment, that is. 

With other countries opening up their doors for tourists that have got the vaccine, they are ensuring that only those that have taken the approved vaccines are allowed to enter. And as good as the precaution is, there is no denying that there is some amount of politics that is getting played into it as well. The recent case of the EU’s Green Pass eligibility test has been doing the rounds of the internet for this reason.

Recently, Covishield, a domestically manufactured vaccine that is a version of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, was excluded from the list of vaccines whose receivers are eligible for the EU’s Green Pass. Even after Covishield was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), the EMA has disapproved of the vaccine for the EU’s Green Pass. 

Green Pass is a like a document handed out to those who have received a vaccine that is on the list of EMA’s approved list of vaccines. With the Green Pass  the person can travel freely in EU member states, for work or for tourism. The Green Pass is supposed to be available for use from 1st July 2021. And so far, the EMA has approved only four vaccines – Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca), and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

Many Indians have voiced their unhappiness the exclusion of regarding Covishield from the EMA list. 

Frankly this is just ugly racism. Indian companies should stop manufacturing for countries that behave in this white supremacist fashion . https://t.co/jVyZ4ObFJb

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) June 27, 2021

Even the veteran actor Soni Razdan who has time and again spoke about her take on the pandemic, retweeted Barkha Dutt’s tweet. In her retweet, she voiced out how unfair and ‘disgusting’ it was. She wrote, “Totally agree. This is nothing short of disgusting and I’m wondering what kind of politics has brought this on. The @WHO must intervene immediately.”

EU treats COVISHIELD as inferior to Astra Zeneca vaccine.

These ex colonist f-heads. First, buy off all vaccines & leave the rest of the world to die. Then, enact policies that treat generic versions of THE SAME vaccines as inferior. These people are scum https://t.co/StinxpOTUo

— Dr. Swapneil Parikh (@swapneilparikh) June 27, 2021

This is another hiccup in India’s vaccine drive. Given that many students that were headed abroad were being vaccinated with covishield on priority, this is certainly a glitch in the works. Covaxin, the other Indian vaccine, is yet to get approval from WHO. Let’s hope India’s vaccine drive doesn’t take a hit because of this.