Austria bans Indian students from attending the conference
Students studying in well-known institutes like IIT, NIT, IISc in India eagerly wait for this conference. Every year around 400 Indian students attend this conference, but this time Austria has banned Indian students from participating in this conference. The reason is the vaccine introduced in India.
Austria, which is a member of the European Union, says that anyone wearing a coveshield is allowed to enter the country, but he is not allowed to stay and participate in any events. Austria has cited the European Medicines Agency behind this.
The European Medicines Agency has recognized only five vaccines of corona in the countries of the European Union. This includes Oxford AstraZeneca, Pfizer Biontech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax. That is, the people who have got this vaccine, they can stay in these countries. Covaxin made in India and Covishield produced here have not been given place in this list.
Vaccine one but rules different
It is worth noting that Oxford AstraZeneca’s Vaxjeveria is included in this list but Covishield has been left out. While the Covishield vaccine is also made in collaboration with UK-Sweden pharma company AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
The only difference is that it is produced by Serum Institute, Pune. That is, the vaccine is one but the rules are different. In such a situation, the question is arising that why India is being discriminated against regarding the vaccine, while Covishield is recognized by WHO.
Nine corona vaccines have been approved in India. At present, only three vaccines are being used for vaccination in the country. These include Covishield, Covaccine made by Indian firm Bharat Biotech and Sputnik-V of Russia. So far, more than 85 percent of the people in India have been vaccinated with the Covishield vaccine. This means that people of India can enter Austria but cannot take part in any program happening there.
These conditions apply not only to students but also to Indians whose families live in Austria. Such families also cannot meet each other due to Indian vaccine.
What do Indian students say?
Priyanshi Desh is doing her PhD from the Center for Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences of the renowned Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She is doing research on monsoon.
In January, Priyanshi applied to participate in the conference of the European Geosciences Union. After the acceptance of the application, Priyanshi started preparing for this conference to be held from 23 to 27 May. For this she also paid about 25 thousand rupees but now she was told that she could not participate in this conference. The last date for registration in the conference is April 14.
Priyanshi said, “My PhD is almost complete. I have to go abroad to do postdoc after PhD, which requires networking. This conference means a lot to us. With the help of this, we put our research in front of the world, meet people, which helps us in getting further admissions.
When Priyanshi had registered on the website of the European Geosciences Union, no such information was given that such people would not be allowed to live in Austria who had got the Covishield vaccine. Priyanshi says that on April 7, informed her about this, which is wrong.
No entry even after WHO approval
Not only Priyanshi, Shubham Goswami had also completed all the preparations to participate in this conference. Shubham Goswami is a student of the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He had to present a paper on ground water recharge in this conference, which he will not be able to do now.
Shubham Goswami says, “When Oxford AstraZeneca’s Vaxjeveria vaccine has been approved, then why is the same company’s Covishield being discriminated against. Our seniors have returned from countries like France and Hungary, but Austria has put our years of preparation in limbo.”
Indian students have also appealed to the Government of India to attend the conference. Earlier, only after the intervention of the Government of India, Covaxin got approval for emergency use from the World Health Organization.
What does European Geosciences have to say?
An IIT Kharagpur student wrote a mail to the European Geosciences Union after she was denied entry to the conference due to the Covishield vaccine. This student is doing PhD from IIT Kharagpur.
In response, the European Geosciences Union said, “This is a big program. It is mandatory for us to follow the Austrian authority’s COVID rules. We cannot change it at our level. You have taken a double dose of Covishield vaccine. If you Even if you take a booster dose of Covishield, you may not be allowed to attend the conference. We are ready to refund the money spent on registration.”
However, the student says, “If India does not have a vaccine like Oxford AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, then from where will we get it? Indian students are getting troubled by such rules.”
Indian students hurt on the economic front
The Indian Institute of Science gives a special fund of Rs 2 lakh to each of its PhD students. With the help of this fund, students can attend a maximum of three conferences abroad. Other institutes also give such funds to their students. For the European Geosciences Union to be held in Austria, many students had booked flight tickets after the application was accepted, but now they have to cancel the tickets due to the vaccine.
Shubham Goswami says, “A lot of students’ money has been wasted in this. Questions have also been raised on how we will participate in the conference to be held in America next year.”
Distressed Indian students have also appealed to the mayor of Austria’s capital Vienna not to stop them from attending the conference due to the Covishield vaccine. The mayor has talked about talking to the federal ministry and the Vienna Convention Bureau.
