The Centre has informed that the World Health Organization (WHO) is yet to reach a consensus on the vaccine passport issue for allowing international travel to those fully vaccinated against the coronavirus infection.
Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal further stated that so far there has been no consensus at the level of WHO over this. "Discussion is still being done if vaccinated people will be allowed. As of now, as per WHO guidelines and guidelines by other countries, people with negative Covid test reports are being allowed," he added. "When we will be able to reach a consensus at the world and WHO level (on vaccine passport issue), then we will take necessary steps," he said responding to a query on reports claiming that people who took the Covaxin jab may not be allowed to travel internationally as the WHO has not included it in its list of vaccines.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Civic Aviation had recently announced that international air travel will no longer be possible without a QR code on the COVID-19 report. As per the revised guidelines, this new rule is applicable to international passengers from May 22, 2021, and the decision was implemented after officials learned that many COVID-19 reports were being modified by the passengers for the travel.
The QR-based checking system will be helpful to check the validity of both the lab and the report, said the officials. Incidents have been reported where COVID positive patients have attempted to tamper the details like the travel date, name and other information on the report, and the same were uncovered at several airports, including Mumbai.
ALSO READ: COVID-19 Restrictions: List of states that have made RT-PCR test mandatory for travellers
Share
Tweet
