the tragedy of the vaccinated with Sputnik who cannot travel to Europe

“It’s not that I took my backpack and went to Ezeiza like that”, Maria said The capital. She prepared all the certificates that the tourism company she had hired told her would be sufficient to enter Austria. Among them he had an invitation from the immigration police of this country and a demonstration that he would travel for a family visit and not for tourism. “I did everything, it wasn’t that I left something loose, but it didn’t matter at all,” the woman said.

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At the Aerolineas Argentinas counter, they told him that this was a special case and that he should discuss it with the company supervisor. “I felt mistreated”, said Maria. “The supervisor told me the only way to enter was with permission from the Spanish consulate (country of arrival of the flight from Argentina) with a family reunification document “, added. In this sense, he estimated: “It’s even illegal, because in order to leave, I sign an affidavit that everything I say is true, and she asked me to do something that is not true.”

It was all heartbreaking once he saw he had no answers and couldn’t make the trip. “I went to the bar there, I threw myself on the table and cried like crazy. My daughter called me from Austria and we cried together. I felt that the state did not was not listening to me. “, said Maria. “Also, no one recognizes the costs of going to Ezeiza, the swabs, the travel insurance and everything involved in preparing for the trip,” he added with disgust.

Limbo

At a time when many European countries have already opened their borders to tourism, and do not even need quarantine or a European passport, the restriction to people vaccinated with Sputnik V appears to be an obstacle with no clear horizon. For certain cases, such as business trips or family visits, it can be carried out with the authorization of the consulate of the country of destination. However, as in Maria’s case, there is little clarity on what aspects can prevent displacement.

This is because the 27 countries that make up the European Union have drawn up their own rules for admitting foreigners. But generally speaking, most only accept those who are vaccinated with the formulas approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)i.e. Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna. There are also those that allow the entry of those who are vaccinated with formulas accepted by the World Health Organization (WHO), which in addition to the above includes Covishield, Sinovac and Sinopharm.

>> Read more: The president of the European agency EMA advises against Sputnik for lack of data

Sputnik has not yet been approved by either of these two organizations and only a few countries accept the entry of people inoculated with this formula.. Those who intend to travel to Europe will need to prepare according to the special requirements demanded by the destination countries, although those who have been vaccinated with Sputnik V will have to wait for approval from international organizations to move forward.

Sputnik V has been waiting since early March for the license to enter the European market en masse. The Russian Direct Investment Fund estimates that the vaccine will be registered within the next two months.