Soni Razdan Finds Covishield's Exclusion From EU's Green Pass Eligibility Test 'Disgusting'

Soni Razdan on Covishield exclusion: Veteran actor Soni Razdan expressed her displeasure over Covishield being excluded from the list of vaccines whose recipients are eligible for the European Union (EU)’s ‘Green Pass’. This happened despite the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s approval of the vaccine. Taking to her Twitter handle, Razdan called this move "disgusting".

What did Soni Razdan say on Covishield exclusion?

On Sunday, June 27, journalist Barkha Dutt tweeted about the exclusion of the vaccine, calling it "ugly racism". Quoting the same, Razdan said that she agreed with her and that the decision was "nothing short of disgusting". She also requested the WHO to "intervene immediately".

Dutt said, "Frankly this is just ugly racism. Indian companies should stop manufacturing for countries that behave in this white supremacist fashion."

Frankly this is just ugly racism. Indian companies should stop manufacturing for countries that behave in this white supremacist fashion . https://t.co/jVyZ4ObFJb

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) June 27, 2021

Razdan quoted her tweet with, "Totally agree. This is nothing short of disgusting and I’m wondering what kind of politics has brought this on. The @WHO must intervene immediately."

Totally agree. This is nothing short of disgusting and I’m wondering what kind of politics has brought this on. The @WHO must intervene immediately. https://t.co/rshTZ9VQOz

— Soni Razdan (@Soni_Razdan) June 27, 2021

On the other hand, Ankiit Koomar, an India Today journalist said that it shouldn't be looked at as "racism", rather a "technical problem" as the European Union policy requires to accept all vaccines to be approved by European Medicines Agency (EMA) and it has not approved SII version so far.

He said, "Don't think its racism. It's more of a technical problem as EU policy requires to accept all EMA approved vaccines. EMA did not approve SII version so far because it didn't need to. EU policy leaves that decision open to member countries."

Don't think its racism. It's more of a technical problem as EU policy requires to accept all EMA approved vaccines. EMA did not approve SII version so far because it didn't need to. EU policy leaves that decision open to member countries https://t.co/868wuHPDAK https://t.co/idx9qC6xA8 pic.twitter.com/DyNcvfHZWr

— Ankiit Koomar (@AnkiitKoomar) June 27, 2021

The Green Pass will be available for use from July 1. It allows only those people to travel freely in EU member states who have received the vaccines approved by EMA. So far, the agency has approved Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech), Moderna, Vaxzervria (AstraZeneca) and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).