COVID Vaccine not mandatory for US-bound students: MEA

New Delhi: India on Thursday clarified that WHO-approved vaccine is not a “mandatory requirement” for Indian students to travel to the United States.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, said, “There is no uniformity in these requirements, the US government has clarified that vaccination is not a mandatory requirement for travelling to the US for Indian students. I also understand that there are multiple conversations between the students and our universities.”

“We would obviously support our students. I think everyone concerned is interested in ensuring that the students are able to reach the universities and undertake regular classes and we hope that a constructive solution can be found,” he added.

Also, the WHO has not added Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin to its emergency list, Bagchi said India is monitoring the emergency use authorisation approval of Covaxin by the WHO. The vaccine is expecting to get WHO approval by September.