London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Sep 27, 2026

Covid: PM confident of no problem over India jab travel

Covid: PM confident of no problem over India jab travel

Boris Johnson has said he is "very confident" there "will not prove to be a problem" for travellers who have received an Indian-made Covid jab.

It comes after reports the European Union's passport scheme does not recognise the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India.

The UK's medicines regulator has shared its data on the jab with its European counterpart, Downing Street said.

Vaccine expert Prof Adam Finn said the vaccines were "exactly the same stuff".

The Daily Telegraph had reported that millions of people who have received doses from batches manufactured in India could face being blocked from taking European holidays.

The UK has received five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute, which manufactures the jab under the name Covishield - although that name is not used in the UK.

The Serum Institute has not received approval to make the Covid jab from the European drugs regulator but has been cleared by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said all AstraZeneca vaccines administered in the UK would appear under the brand name Vaxzevria - the same as the AstraZeneca jab produced elsewhere - on the NHS Covid Pass.

It said "no Covishield jabs have been administered in the UK".

On Friday the UK recorded 27,125 new cases of coronavirus and a further 27 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Currently the EU is rolling out a Digital Covid Certificate so travellers can prove their vaccination status in order to be exempt from quarantining when crossing an international border.

A European Commission spokesman said that while entry to the EU should be allowed to those who are fully vaccinated with EU authorised jabs, member states could make their own decision on whether to allow entry for people vaccinated with jabs on the World Health Organization's emergency list - which includes Covishield.

Several European countries have already approved the Covishield jab for travel. These include Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Spain, Iceland and Switzerland.

At the moment the EU does not accept the UK's NHS app for Covid certification but a UK government spokesman said it will be "a key service" as international travel is reopened.

Individual countries including Greece and Spain do accept it.

With batch numbers being visible via the UK's Covid pass it is not clear if officials EU countries could check if a person had received a dose originating in India.

Earlier, Downing Street said the MHRA had shared its assessment of the vaccines with its European counterpart - the European Medicines Agency (EMA) - to assist the approvals process.

During a press conference with German Chancellor Angel Merkel, the UK prime minister, Mr Johnson, said he saw "no reason at all" why MHRA-approved vaccines should not be used for vaccine passports.

Mrs Merkel said that "in the foreseeable future" those with double jabs in high incidence areas, like Britain, "will be able to travel again without having to go into quarantine".

The Serum Institute is reportedly seeking emergency authorisation from Europe for the Covishield jab, which has widely been distributed in poorer countries as part of the Covavax scheme.

AstraZeneca also says it is working with the EMA on the "inclusion of Covishield as a recognised vaccine for immunisation passports" - although the EMA says there is currently no application for market authorisation.

Prof Finn, a member of the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told BBC Radio 4's Today programme people should not be worried that they were any less protected by the Covishield jab and said the "administrative hurdle" should be "straightened out".

"We're in the early days of this new world of needed vaccine passports and there are lots of aspects of this that are still being sorted out for the first time," he said.

"But it's clearly, ultimately not in anyone's interest, including the European Union, to create hurdles that don't need to be there."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Civil Aviation Authority Launches Review of Air Traffic Systems Following Digital Failure
X Reports First Increase in UK Revenues Following Advertiser Boycott
Shetland Islands Council Approves £400 Million Inter-Island Tunnel Project
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Warns Iran Against Hostile Activities on British Soil
UK Ministers Concede Chagos Islands Sovereignty Agreement Terminated After US Opposition
More in Common Poll Projects Hung Parliament with Labour Leading and Reform UK Gains
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Defends Economic Strategy as Public Finances Face Headwinds
Tony Blair Urges Government to Set Long-Term Goal of Rejoining the European Union
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Pledges Universal Free Social Care Funded Through General Taxation
UK Diesel and Petrol Prices Surge Near All-Time Highs Amid Middle East Energy Volatility
Analysis of Reform UK conference highlights deep political divisions over welfare and immigration
Bangladesh garment exports to the United Kingdom reach $915 million in early fiscal year
Royal Navy begins sea trials for new HMS Agamemnon hunter-killer submarine
New report suggests UK data centre expansion will create far fewer jobs than predicted
Major weekend closures announced for London Underground Piccadilly and Central lines
NHS leaders call for emergency winter funding to combat staffing shortages and rising illness
Far-right activist Daniel Thomas charged following alleged slashing of migrant dinghy
Home Secretary orders urgent review of border security following rise in small boat crossings
Prime Minister Andy Burnham to address Labour Party conference amid calls for long-term infrastructure plan
UK Treasury and Bank of England warn of rising inflation risks amid Middle East tensions
Royal Navy Diving Squadron Honoured for Global Bomb Disposal Efforts
UK State Pension Set to Approach £13,000 Per Year Under Triple-Lock
Rolls-Royce Wins Multi-Million-Pound Engine Contract with Philippine Airlines
TfL Questions Future of Heathrow Express Amid Proposed £33 Billion Expansion
Ed Miliband Warns Iran Against Hostile Operations on British Soil
S&P Global Manufacturing Index Signals Stabilization Amid Rising Fuel Costs
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Launches National Centre for Information Defence
UK Food and Drink Trade Deficit Surges to £21.1 Billion
OECD Upgrades United Kingdom Economic Growth Forecast to 1.1 Percent
Bank of England Faces Policy Challenges as Energy Prices Push Inflation Projections Higher
IMF Urges UK and Major Economies to Reduce Public Borrowing and Debt
UK Government Concedes Chagos Islands Sovereignty Deal is Dead Following Trump Opposition
Prosecutors Seek More Than 10 Years in Prison for Former DUP Leader Jeffrey Donaldson
UK Provided £66 Million in Emergency Security Funding for Mosques After Southport Disorder
Manston Inquiry Examines Role of Government Decisions in 2022 Overcrowding Crisis
Justice System Capacity Pressures Raise Concerns Over Release of Sex Offenders
UK Food and Drink Trade Deficit Widens to Record £21.1 Billion
UK Releases Climate Security Findings Previously Withheld Under Starmer
TalkTalk Races to Sell Consumer and Broadband Businesses as Administration Threat Looms
NHS Bodies Impose Minimum Two-Year Waits for ADHD and Autism Assessments
Andy Burnham Pledges £210 Million to Revive Boarded-Up High Streets
UK Borrowing Reaches £18.3 Billion in August Ahead of Autumn Budget
Vistry Cuts Profit Outlook as Losses Deepen and Private Home Sales Weaken
Reported Assaults on Great Britain’s Railways Rise Sharply
Far-Right Activist Daniel Thomas Arrested After Channel Dinghy Slashing
Ukrainians in Britain Face Greater Homelessness Risk as Host Payments Are Cut
Scottish Drug Deaths Rise as Synthetic Opioids Spread
UK Diesel Prices Approach Record High as Energy Costs Intensify
UK Food and Drink Trade Deficit Widens to Record £21 Billion
Britain’s Largest Planned AI Supercomputer Delayed by Power Grid Constraints
×