PARIS (AP) – France will allow international travellers who have had AstraZeneca’s Indian-manufactured vaccine into the country starting Sunday.
At the same time, France is tightening border checks to control the spread of the delta variant and protect hospitals, according to a statement from the prime minister Saturday.
The move to accept visitors vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s vaccine made by India’s Serum Institute came after global outcry over the fact that the European Union’s COVID-19 certificate only recognizes AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in Europe. Several other EU countries already accept the Indian version. France still does not recognize vaccinations by Chinese or Russian vaccines, only those authorized by the EU medicines regulator.
Tunisia, Indonesia, Cuba and Mozambique have now been added to France’s “red list” of countries with high virus risk, according to Saturday’s statement.