New Zealand adds Covaxin, Covishield to list of 8 'recognised' COVID-19 vaccines

Wellington, Nov 17: The New Zealand government gave recognition to two anti-coronavirus vaccines -- India-made Covaxin and Pfizer-BioNTech's Covishield, developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII)- in the list of eight recognised vaccines, for the purpose of establishing a traveller's vaccination status in the country.

Muktesh Pardeshi, India's High Commissioner to New Zealand, informed on November 17 wrote on Twitter,''In a positive decision, NZ includes #covishield and #covaxin in the list of 8 recognised vaccines.''

The Indian High Commissioner further said in his tweet, "We keenly await lifting of travel restrictions. India is already open to vaccinated tourists."

So far, 96 countries have agreed to mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates with India, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had earlier said.

Recognition of Covaxin, Covishield, means many citizens of India, as well as other countries where these vaccines have been widely deployed, will now be considered fully vaccinated on entry to New Zealand.