Not received Covishield approval request: EU official

New Delhi, June 29: The European Medicine Agency has not received a request for the Covidshield vaccine, a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine developed by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), news agency ANI reported citing an EU official.

"Concerning a possible EMA authorisation for Covishield, as of yesterday, the EMA stated that it had not received a request for approval. It will examine any such request when received, as per its procedures," the official was quoted as saying by ANI.

"The EU digital certificate is meant to facilitate safe free movement during the pandemic within the region. It will serve as proof that a person was vaccinated and received a negative test result or recovered from it. It is not a pre-condition to travel," he further said.

The official also said that individual member states will have the option to accept vaccines that have been authorised by the World Health Organization (WHO). Covishield has been included in the WHO's emergency listing.

The European Union excluded Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Green Pass, the document that allows easy travel to and within EU member states.

So far, The European Medicines Agency (EMA), has approved only four Covid-19 vaccines so far: Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

Interstingly, the EU's medical regulatory body has approved the AstraZeneca shot manufactured and sold in Europe as Vaxzervria, but omitted the version produced by the Serum Institute, as Covishield.

The digital green pass will work as a COVID-19 "vaccine passport" and would provide proof that a person has been vaccinated, holds a negative test result or has recovered from an infection.