UKH

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/02/britons-with-indian-made-astr...

Mrs Ridge and I are the lucky owners of the first 2 Astra Zeneca batches not to be recognised by the EMA, anyone had batch No 4120Z003 to make up the full set?

In reply to Ridge:

Me🙋‍♂️

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Congratulations!

In reply to Ridge:

I’m delighted. Do I win a prize?

In reply to Ridge:

It does seem rather strange that the EU rules seem to be based on the brand name that the vaccine is distributed under rather than which one it is and whether it was made by a reputable and experienced vaccine manufacturer or a mate of Matt Hancock's using some second hand home-brew kit. 

However, the last I read was that, if the EU agrees to recognise UK vaccination certificates then those don't distinguish between UK, EU or Indian manufacture of the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine so you might have to drag yourself off to that luxury alpine chalet after all.

In reply to Ridge:

I got that batch too.

In reply to Ridge:

Yep. Pah.

In reply to Ridge:

My first jab was a 4120Z003. Second, end of May, was a completely different no I can barely read, so guess I got one of each manufacturer and will therefore confuse any system and be lost in limbo forever. Or something.

In reply to Ridge:

At least 2 countries have stated they will accept covashield/astrazeneca. I know Spain and Slovenia are among them others will follow on I'm hope.

In reply to Mal Grey:

Do you know about the proof of vaccination letter you can ask for? Really easy to do and it comes in three days. It doesn't seem to have been well advertised that you can do this, but the letter lists the batch numbers of each vaccination which tally with the little card you get at the time of vaccination. So things are being recorded robustly (at least in my case!). It seems unlikely things will be lost in limbo. 

In reply to nikoid:

Yes the NHS app also shows batch numbers too. 

In reply to Ridge:

My batches both begin with PV so they sound like Plessey products

In reply to Ridge:

The European countries concerned have now bowed to pressure and have confirmed that people who have had the Indian batches of AZ will now be treated the same as all other AZ travellers.

In reply to Trangia:

I understand that the Indian element of AZ didn’t apply for EU approval because their vaccines were destined for low and middle income countries, like the UK. They didn’t think through the acceptability of the vaccinated person thereafter. 
 

The NHS letter thing is both simple and complicated. I managed to generate a letter for us both while trying to get the electronic version, which subsequently turned out to be inadmissible, before they changed their minds. The rules seemed to be changing faster than the official websites could be updated. Sadly, our kids only have one vaccination, so can’t come in hols. I have one Indian vaccination and will probably be allowed. 

Still, at least we’re going. Anyone in Gozo/Malta fancy a few routes the week after next?

In reply to nniff:

I have the 4120Z003 batch. It seems some EU countries are now accepting this, about 10 are happy to accept it, but not France, which is a problem for us as we travel to France via the Eurotunnel.

The batch number is clearly visible on our certificates. The name of the vaccine written on the NHS certificate is "vaxzevria" which is accepted by France but seemingly not the 3 batch numbers that were produced in India. Its seems there is no approval from the EMA for this batch produced in India under licence as they did not expect to export it to Europe so no application was made to the EMA. From what I understand they have applied for a licence for its approval, but who knows how lang that takes.

Boris quoted recently that "this should not be a problem" but it seems to be... 

Has anyone tried getting into France with these jabs?

In reply to Ridge: Pardon the slight hi-jack, but can it be taken as a given that the vaccination dates and serial numbers will be in one's patient records, as well as recorded on the card given at vaccinations? I seem to have found mine is misplaced.

In reply to Timmd:

Have you looked in the place that you last had it?

In reply to Ridge:

We can’t get back to visit family in the UK despite being fully vaccinated and Canada having a 25 times lower prevalence rate than the UK. Guess we might take the 5 day quarantine and test and release if things don’t change.  The other complication is that we had the first dose of AZ and second Pfizer as allowed by public health here. 

In reply to Timmd:

Yes the date, vaccine name and batch number all appear on your records. You can install the NHS app if you have a smart phone (not the track and trace NHS app) and once you create an account you can view your vaccine record / covid passport on there along with being able to get a PDF version to print out. They are currently working to integrate this with the EU covid passport scheme to improve speed of travel across Europe. Border control do not accept the card given to you when you were vaccinated from what I understand.

In reply to VinnyW:

You can also generate a pdf copy of your covid immunization history without installing an app -- all through NHS login on the web, if you would prefer.

In reply to VinnyW: Coolio, that's alright then. When pondering it, I figured that somebody could write on an NHS card themselves and not have the jabs, so it makes sense that something more official is in place.

In reply to Ridge:

Hmm.

The Scottish system has us logging in to vacs.nhs.scot/csp to check our status, and it doesn't show the batch number, just that it's "Vaxzevria" (well, that's mine anyway).

We can request a paper copy to be sent to us, which we're only supposed to do if we're travelling abroad in the next 14 days, which I'm not (at least unless there's an unexpected family emergency in Sweden). Maybe that shows the batch number, I hope so.

So I'm ordering one anyway to see what it says - if they can't get their act together to show it online, I don't have much choice!

In reply to skog:

My paper copy came within a few days of ordering it, but I dont see any codes that look similar to the ones mentioned above.

In reply to alan moore:

Hmm.

OK, thanks - on the plus side, maybe that means we'll 'side-step' the issue..?

In reply to Ridge:

This article would suggest that the issue has now been resolved: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eu-delegation-to-malaysia-says-all-wh...

In reply to Ridge:

Me.

And I flew into Spain on Tuesday with absolutely no issues.

In reply to timjones:

Yes, Spain seem happy with it, its seems they have approved it along with several other EU nations. These seem to be Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. Iceland ad Switzerland also seem to accept it.

Im looking to travel to France but concerned I will be turned away at border control entering France.

Anyone managed to get in to France with one of these jabs?
 

In reply to VinnyW:

I had a message on from Graham Hoey a couple of days ago, they got into France no problems, one of their jabs was the ‘Indian variant’,

Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

WOW! Looks like my holiday could be back on then! (unless he is a channel swimmer!) Don't suppose you know if it was a flight / ferry or eurotunnel do you, as we are planning on taking the tunnel.