Residents who have received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine are being reassured that no doses branded Covishield have been administered in the island, the government says.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) hasn’t authorised doses produced by Covishield at the Serum Institute of India.

It led to concerns that anyone who had received the Covishield vaccine would not be able to travel to the EU free from testing and isolation requirements, despite being fully vaccinated.

Regardless of the place of manufacturer, all AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines administered in the Isle of Man and the UK are the ChAdOx1-S [recombinant] which is approved by the EMA - this code is not the one put on the vaccination card residents receive after their appointment.

The majority of the UK’s 100 million dose supply of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines, which the UK Government has supplied to the Isle of Man Government, were manufactured in Wales and Staffordshire.

Five million of those doses were however manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

Minister for Health and Social Care, David Ashford, said: ’I would like to reassure the public that all vaccines administered in the Isle of Man have been approved by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the European Union’s European Medicines Agency.

’All Covid-19 vaccine doses used in the Isle of Man and the UK are subject to rigorous safety and quality checks, including individual batch testing and physical site inspections, by the medicine’s regulator, the MHRA.

’As no Covishield branded vaccines have been administered here in the Isle of Man, there is no need for the public to be concerned about any EU travel implications.’

There is no suggestion the Indian-made jabs are in any way less effective than the other vaccines.