9 EU nations accepting Covishield for travel: Sources

Nine European nations are accepting Covishield vaccines for travel to their countries sources said on ThursdayAustria Germany Slovenia Greece Iceland Ireland and Spain are among the countries allowing travel by people who have taken Covishield vaccines the sources said They said Switzerland is also accepting Covishield as a Schengen stateSeparately Estonia has confirmed that it will recognise all vaccines authorised by the government of India for the entry of Indians the sources saidIndia has already asked the EU member countries to individually consider allowing Indians who have taken Covishield and Covaxin vaccines and want to travel to EuropeThe European Unionrsquos Digital Covid certificate or ldquoGreen Passrdquo is coming into effect on Thursday with an aim to facilitate free movement during the Covid19 pandemicUnion foreign minister S Jaishankar had on Tuesday met Josep Borrell Fontelles High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and lsquoCovishieldrsquo authorisation for travel to EuropeDrug firm Zydus Cadila on Thursday said it has applied for emergency use authorisation with the Indian drug regulator for its threedose Covid19 vaccine ZyCoVD for people aged 12 years and above The firm said it plans to manufacture 1012 crore doses annuallyCases rise againIndia saw a single day rise of 48786 Coronavirus infections taking the total tally to 30411634 while the national recovery rate improved to 9697 per cent according to the Union Health Ministryrsquos data updated on Thursday morning The death toll rose to 399459 with 1005 fresh fatalitiesOdisha Assam report shortage of vaccinesBhubaneswarGuwahati Officials in Odisha and Assam on Thursday said that there was a shortage of Covid19 vaccines in their respective states The Odisha government on Thursday halted vaccination drive in 16 districts due to ldquoshortagerdquo of Covishield doses amid a rise in cases an official saidThe state had a stock of only 19520 Covishield doses and 324910 Covaxin vials till Thursday morning he said The state is expecting a consignment of 6 lakh vials of the vaccine on Friday he addedMeanwhile the BJPled Assam government could vaccinate only 1663 lakh people in the past 10 days almost 45 per cent less than Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmarsquos target of inoculating 30 lakh people due to a massive shortage of Covid19 vaccines a senior health official said on Thursday The Health Department witnessed one of the lowest vaccination figures till now mdash 14551 doses mdash on June 30Director National Health Mission under the state Health Department Lakshmanan S said ldquoYesterday we got 6 lakh Covishield doses We distributed these to the districts So you will see the vaccination numbers rising again in the next three days However we do not have any idea when we will get the next supply in the coming 15 daysrdquo30411634Total no of Coronavirus cases in India so far399459Total no of deaths due to the virus in India so far523257Total no of active cases in India