96 nations have agreed to mutual recognition of vax certificates: Minister

Union Health Minister Mr. Mansukh Mandaviya stated that Top of Form

ninety-six countries have agreed to mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates with India.

The government maintains to be in contact with the rest of the world so that beneficiaries of the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination programme are acknowledged and recognised, thus easing travel for education, business and tourism purposes, Mr. Mandaviya stated in his statement.

“Currently, 96 countries have granted to mutual recognition of vaccination certificates and also those who accept Indian vaccination certificates of travellers fully vaccinated with Covishield/WHO approved/nationally approved Covid vaccines,” Mr. Mandaviya confirmed.

Sequentially, individuals travelling from these countries are offered a variety of relaxations as articulated in the Union Health Ministry's guidelines on international arrivals issued on October 20, 2021.

For those who wish to travel overseas, the international travel vaccination certificate can also be downloaded from the CoWIN portal, the ministry stated.

Among the 96 countries are Canada, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Bangladesh, Mali, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Angola, Nigeria, Benin, Chad, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Finland, Estonia, Romania, Moldova, Albania, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Sweden, Austria, Montenegro, and Iceland.

Eswatini, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Kyrgyz Republic, Belarus, Armenia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Georgia, Andorra, Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Maldives, Comoros, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Peru, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Brazil have also agreed to mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates with India.

Guyana, Antigua & Barbuda, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Columbia, Trinidad & Tobago, Commonwealth of Dominica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nepal, Iran, Lebanon, State of Palestine, Syria, South Sudan, Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt, Australia, Mongolia, and Philippines are among other countries.

“The Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Ministry of External Affairs is in continuous consultation with all countries for mutual recognition of vaccine certificates, and WHO and nationally approved vaccines to enable smooth international travel across countries,” the minister stated.

“The Union government's pledge to accelerate the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination across the country has followed in crossing the 100 crore milestone in administration of doses on October 21, 2021,” he added further.

The cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has surpassed 109.08 crore.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.