EU has now restricted travelers inoculated with Covishield. That’s West’s anti-India bias in all its ugliness

Taking white man’s burden and racial discrimination to another level, the European Union (EU) has denied vaccine passports to those inoculated with Covishield – the Indian version of Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India.

EU’s medical regulatory body, European Medicines Agency, has allowed vaccine passports or ‘Green Pass’ for the people inoculated with Vaxzervria, Oxford-Astrazeneca’s same vaccine manufactured and sold in Europe under a different brand name. The Green Pass will allow travellers unrestricted movement across the EU nations for business and tourism purposes, effective July 1. However, such rampant discrimination and racism, even at a point when Europe is long past its former glory and is in perpetual decline, shows that old habits die hard.

Adar Poonawala, CEO of Serum Institute of India, the company that supplies the majority of vaccines for developing as well as developed countries including Europe, said that he has taken the issue to the highest level. “I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken COVISHIELD are facing issues with travel to the E.U., I assure everyone, I have taken this up at the highest levels and hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic level with countries,” tweeted Poonawala.

I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken COVISHIELD are facing issues with travel to the E.U., I assure everyone, I have taken this up at the highest levels and hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic level with countries.

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) June 28, 2021

Europe is allowing people to travel to the continent with vaccine passports because it is losing billions of dollars from the tourism industry which is its major source of foreign exchange and employment. This is the peak tourist season and the second successive year when Europe is losing business. Therefore, it allowed those inoculated with Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca-Oxford), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) – the vaccines used in countries like United States, Canada, and other western countries.

While Europe is desperate for billions of dollars that American tourists spend, it is not concerned about Indian money because a very small number of tourists visit Europe and at a time when Coronavirus is ravaging countries in the continent, very few people are supposed to travel there. Thus, Europe is protecting the interest of its own and big Western pharmaceutical companies which do not want the acceptability of Indian vaccines to increase in Western markets.

Indian vaccines are comparatively cheaper and more effective, and if they get access to the Western market, it will be a big loss for big pharmaceutical companies. Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, is yet to get approval in the American and European markets because regulators in those countries are protecting domestic players from foreign competition.

India’s Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan expressed the vaccine passport as “highly discriminatory” in a G-7 meeting to which India was invited. “Expressed India’s concern & strong opposition to ‘Vaccine Passport’ at this juncture of the #pandemic With vaccine coverage as a % of population in developing countries still low compared to developed countries, such an initiative could prove to be highly discriminatory,” he tweeted.

Expressed India's concern & strong opposition to 'Vaccine Passport' at this juncture of the #pandemic

With vaccine coverage as a % of population in developing countries still low compared to developed countries, such an initiative could prove to be highly discriminatory.@G7 pic.twitter.com/zh6nhkEfbv

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) June 4, 2021

One must not forget that after China, Italy, a country of the European Union emerged as the biggest hub of the spread of the virus and became the reason behind it spreading world over. Europe is a pale shadow of its former self and it is losing in almost every field to the United States, China, and India. In fact, its scientific prowess is so weak that it could not develop its own vaccine and is still dependent on British and American vaccines. However, it continues carrying white man’s burden and implementing racist and discriminatory policies.