Select a region
Millions of vaccines across Britain are not accepted by the European Union’s vaccine passport scheme, it has emerged, affecting three batches of Astra Zeneca vaccine that have been administered locally.
The shots in question were manufactured in India and are not yet authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
As first reported in The Telegraph, the EU Digital Covid Certificate, launched on Thursday, does not recognise a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine called Covishield, which was produced by the Serum Institute of India.
The vaccine batch numbers are 4120Z001, 4120Z002, 4120Z003. Your vaccine batch number is included on vaccine cards. Asked about the reports on Friday morning, a spokesperson for Health & Social Care said Public Health was reviewing the evidence before commenting further.
Elaborating on Friday evening, they said that anyone who has received a vaccination from these three batches should not be concerned over their level of protection against Covid-19.
"We are currently evaluating the evidence and a further update will be issued as soon as more information is available."
????????♀️ Yep, this includes me - albeit my AstraZenceca was the 4120Z001 batch. I was jabbed with this back in March 2021
— Emma Atkinson (@EmsAtkinson84) July 2, 2021
Pictured: Some people vaccinated in the island will currently be treated as being unvaccinated if they enter most EU countries.
"The world is in the very early days of issuing and using vaccination-status documents, and there are some aspects of the process that only come to light for the first-time once distribution has started.
"We understand that a number of EU countries have already confirmed that they will accept vaccination-status documents which include vaccines from the three batches identified."
These include Germany, Greece, the Republic of Ireland and Spain.
"The States of Guernsey is engaging with the UK Government to understand how this potential issue may affect people vaccinated in the Bailiwick," the spokesperson for HSC continued.
"In the interim, anyone looking to travel should carefully check the requirements and criteria set by their intended destinations to ensure they can comply with regard to any immediate travel plans to Europe."
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.