London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Aug 19, 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
UK Health and Economic Pressures Highlight Wider Strain on Households and Public Finances
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Reaffirms Full Support for Ukraine Amid Russian Warnings
Sainsbury’s Suspends Live Facial Recognition at London Store After Customer Misidentified
Artists Urge UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Reject New North Sea Oil and Gas Licensing
UK Government Awards Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Million Pound Civil Service Training Contract to EY and KPMG
Global Government Bond Yields Rise as Middle East Conflict Fuels Inflation Concerns
British Housing Market Records Weakest August Since Two Thousand and Eighteen as Asking Prices Fall
UK Announces New Sanctions on Russian Shadow Fleet and Financial Institutions
UK Approves Virgin Rail Group Services Through Channel Tunnel, Challenging Eurostar
UK Government Backs Three Hundred Million Pound AI Investment Zone in North Lanarkshire
UK Declares National Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Imported Eggs
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
UK Government Rolls Out £5.8 Billion Regional Investment Programme to Revive High Streets
AstraZeneca Ends Late-Stage Lung Cancer Trial After Data Shows No Survival Benefit
London Stocks Fall for Sixth Day as Bond Yields and Middle East Tensions Weigh on Markets
UK Government Rewrites Planning Rules to Accelerate Housing Near Transport Hubs
UK Wildfires Spread Across Southern England as Met Office Issues Severe Heat Warnings
British Doctors Warn Cancer Care Is at Risk as Hospitals Reject More Than a Quarter of Urgent Referrals
UK Hospitals Suspend Critical Care as Extreme Heat Exposes Infrastructure Failures
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Campaigners Press Government to Strengthen Rights for Four Million Gig Workers
Government Considers Higher Private Rents to Spread Asylum Accommodation Across UK
UK Moves to Protect Historic Pubs From Conversion Into Housing and Offices
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to House of Commons
British Manufacturers Report Rising Cybersecurity Threats Across Industrial Supply Chains
Royal Navy Increases Monitoring of Russian Ships in UK Waters by 25 Percent
England Adds More Than 350 Medical Training Posts to Strengthen NHS Capacity
NHS Waiting Lists Over 52 Weeks Rise by More Than 11,000 Patients
Brent Crude Near $88 Raises Fresh UK Energy Cost Concerns
UK Treasury Warns Prolonged Strait of Hormuz Disruption Could Cut 2027 Growth to 0.3 Percent
UK Economy Grows 0.4 Percent in Second Quarter as Energy and Inflation Risks Persist
UK Heatwave Triggers Emergency Alert as Government Unveils £65 Million Farm Support Package
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Takes Regional Tour to Highlight Local Infrastructure and Environmental Problems
×