Meanwhile, India on Thursday administered more than 27 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines; with this, the number of vaccine doses given so far across the country has crossed 97 crores.
Apart from Britain, more than 30 countries across the world have now agreed to mutually recognise India’s Covid-19 vaccine certificate, according to officials familiar with the matter cited by the PTI news agency on Thursday. The countries that have agreed on this mutual recognition with India include France, Germany, Nepal, Belarus, Lebanon, Armenia, Ukraine, Belgium, Hungary, and Serbia, in addition to the United Kingdom.
However, there are a few countries—including South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, and some others in Europe—from where travellers will have to follow additional measures, in addition to the mandatory Covid-19 protocols when they arrive in India. These measures include a post-arrival Covid-19 test in the country and screening, according to the officials cited by the agency.
Hungary and Serbia are the latest additions to the list of countries who agreed to mutually recognise India’s Covid-19 vaccination certificate, informed ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi last week. Bagchi said that the recognition of the vaccination certificates will cater to help people move across countries for education, business, tourism, and other things in the post-pandemic world.
The development comes days after the UK government decided to remove the requirement of mandatory quarantine for vaccinated Indian passengers after India voiced its displeasure regarding the decision and imposed travel requirements on passengers from Britain in a tit-for-tat move. Soon after, Alex Ellis, British high commissioner to India, said in a tweet, “No quarantine for Indian travellers to the UK fully vaccinated with Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine from 11 October.”
Meanwhile, India on Thursday administered more than 27 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines; with this, the number of vaccine doses given so far across the country has crossed 97 crores. The Union ministry of health and family welfare also said that the daily vaccination numbers are expected to increase as the day-long final report is collected late at night.
On Wednesday, as many as 27,62,523 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered across the country. The ministry underlined that the vaccination drive is a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from Covid-19 and that the campaign is being regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level.
