Traveling in Europe: which countries you can enter and which you cannot if you have received the Sputnik, Sinopharm and Covishield vaccines

Many countries are starting to open their borders to tourism and we must review the restrictions in force, such as the obligation – or not – to carry out a quarantine on entry, the presentation of a PCR test and – especially – which vaccines are accepted.

It happens that the European Union (EU) allows entry only to travelers immunized with vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA, for its acronym in English), a requirement that three of the drugs circulating in Argentina do not meet: Sputnik, Sinopharm and Covishield.

The other two that apply in our country, AstraZeneca and Modern, are recognized in all countries of the European Union and they do not present any problems when moving. The same happens with Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & johnson.

Spain, one of the destinations most chosen by compatriots who travel to Europe, on Monday canceled the measure which imposed a quarantine of 10 days for Argentinian tourists. However, this requires having a full schedule – i.e. with two doses – of coronavirus vaccination at least. 14 days before to arrive.

Important: it will only be taken into account that the vaccinations were performed with inoculants approved by the continental regulatory body, such as Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Janssen; or that have been authorized by the World Health Organization (WHO), which in addition to the above includes Sinopharm and Sinovac-Coronavac (present in several Latin American countries, such as Chile and Uruguay). It does not include vaccines such as Sputnik V.

In the event that an Argentinian who has received Sputnik must travel for professional reasons or because he has a seriously ill relative, he must process a special authorization at the Consulate Spanish and attach a test PCR negative.

Compatriots who have european passport They can travel with a negative PCR issued 48 hours before boarding, and a vaccination certificate. Those who have a medical certificate stating that they had Covid-19, that they recovered more than 180 days ago and that they have developed antibodies can also enter.

As EU member countries have the autonomy to make their own decisions, some also allow entry with vaccines authorized by the WHO: this is the case of Sinopharm and Covishield.

Chinese vaccine is accepted by Spain, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Sweden, Malta and -Coming soon- Estonia.

In case of Covishield It’s curious: this is exactly the same vaccine as AstraZeneca, but made in India. As it turns out, the EMA has yet to officially authorize it: it argues that the producing laboratory, Serum Institute, has not published all the required procedures, such as details of its production practices and quality control. .

However, there is 17 European countries that allow entry on its territory to vaccinated people Covishield: Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Sputnik V presents the most complex scenario, because in addition to not having been approved by the EMA, it also does not have the endorsement of the WHO. In Europe, the countries that allow entry of people vaccinated with the Gamaleya Institute vaccine are Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and the microstate of San Marino. It is also allowed in Turkey, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro and North Macedonia, which are not part of the EU.

Since March 4, Russian development has been waiting for a license allowing it to enter the European market on a larger scale. From the government of Vladimir Poutine blame the delay on geopolitical issues, while regulators point out that the country has not submitted all the required documentation. In June, WHO spokespersons estimated that the authorization would arrive “between September and the end of the year”.

What will happen to those who have combination vaccines

One of the big unknowns so far is what will happen to tourists who have received two different applications: For example, a very common case during these weeks is that many Argentines who had initially received Sputnik V (without authorization) completed the regimen with AstraZeneca (authorized). The reason: the shortage of second doses of the Russian vaccine and the expiration of the window period from the first supply.

At present, the entry of people vaccinated with the combination of doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer or AstraZeneca with Moderna. The Sputnik and the Sinopharm, for the moment, they are still closed to entry into Spain, Germany and France, among other nations.

Meanwhile, the government announced more doses of Sputnik V, AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm. The Richmond laboratory will release 307,000 units of Russian vaccine on August 26 and another 302,500,000 on August 27 of component 2, in addition to the 400,000 doses of component 1 and 250,000 of component 2 that arrived from Moscow on Tuesday.

Before the end of the month, according to Casa Rosada’s TN.com.ar, an additional 2.2 million doses will arrive. As for Sinopharm, 768 thousand doses would arrive on August 29 and another 680 thousand units are expected by August 30.