Indian made Covishield and Covaxin vaccines approved in New Zealand

An Indian vaccine, Covishield and Covaxin, has finally been approved in New Zealand. Earlier this month, Australia, New Zealand’s neighbour, recognized two Indian vaccines. Travellers from India who have been vaccinated with these vaccines will not have to undergo quarantine upon arrival in New Zealand. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also recognized both vaccines. Eight vaccinations have been approved so far.

Muktesh Pardeshi, the Indian high commissioner to New Zealand, shared the good news. “He took to Twitter with the following tweet,”

“In a positive decision, NZ includes #covishield and #covaxin in the list of 8 recognised vaccines. We keenly await the lifting of travel restrictions. India is already open to vaccinated tourists”.

The country has a mutual vaccination certificate agreement with 99 nations worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom, UAE, Qatar, France, and Germany. In March 2020, the country decided to open its borders to fully vaccinate foreign tourists.

Travellers from countries that have mutually agreed to the new rules will not be required to undergo COVID-19 post-arrival testing. Despite being exempt from mandatory quarantine, travellers from these countries still have to follow some COVID-19 requirements.

COVID-19 restrictions implemented by New Zealand enabled it to contain the virus. As soon as the number of virus infections worldwide began to rise, the island nation chose to seal all its international borders and impose a strict lockdown.

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s PM, was praised worldwide for her prompt decisions and actions, which prevented severe damage from happening to the country. To date, 9285 cases and 35 deaths have been reported in the country.