Shomporko Online News Desk: Europe is beginning to put out its Digital COVID Certificate, proof of COVID-19 immunization that might one day allow double-dosed Canadians to sip wine in a French vineyard without having to follow the mountain of pandemic-related requirements that currently exist.
There’s just one problem: the program doesn’t yet recognize all Canadian-approved COVID-19 immunizations.
All of the vaccines approved by the European Union have been approved by Canada: Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), the latter of which has yet to be disseminated.
However, while Canada has doled out both the European-made version of the AstraZeneca jab and its Indian-made counterpart – known as Covishield – Brussels has only approved the European-made version.
That means Canadians who received at least one dose of the Covishield vaccine might find themselves running into a roadblock as they try to book a trip to the E.U., should Europe’s internal passport program be extended to international travelers.
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“My understanding is that the two AstraZeneca manufactured vaccines, European Union and India, are biologically identical,” said Kerry Bowman, a professor of bioethics and global health at the University of Toronto.
“So what we’ve got is a bureaucratic situation here that could well indeed stand in the way of people’s freedom of travel.”
In Canada, 1.6 million people have received a jab of the European-made version of AstraZeneca, according to the government’s figures. But another 272,000 people have been given at least one dose of the Covishield vaccine – leaving the future of their potential EU travel plans in limbo.
“One of the major issues with vaccination passports is that we don’t have a strong worldwide infrastructure for managing these things,” Bowman explained. “As a result, judgments are made in different places.”
“One of the major issues with vaccination passports is that we don’t have a strong worldwide infrastructure for managing these things,” Bowman explained. “As a result, judgments are made in different places.”
Source_ globalnews.ca