New Delhi: After India objected to the new UK travel guidelines which declared fully jabbed Indian passengers as 'unvaccinated' forcing them to undergo 10 days mandatory isolation, Britain has revised its travel policy. The UK government has now said that Covishield now qualifies as an approved vaccine.
The latest changes announced on Wednesday, mandate that only people who have got both shots of a double-dose vaccine such as Covishield, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna or the single shot Janssen vaccine “under an approved vaccination program in the UK, Europe, US or UK vaccine programme overseas” will be considered fully vaccinated.
India on Tuesday had warned of "reciprocal measures" if the UK does not address its concerns over the new travel rules relating to COVID-19 vaccine certification with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla describing these norms as "discriminatory".
Foreign minister S Jaishankar also had urged the United Kingdom for an “early resolution of quarantine issue” in the wake of a new British rule requiring Indians visiting there to quarantine and undergo mandatory tests even if they are fully vaccinated.
India’s Covishield vaccine, developed jointly by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca and manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India was earlier not recognized by Britain under the new rule despite being identical to the doses given to millions in their country.
The travel advisory irked the citizens and EAM Jaishankar raised the matter during his meeting with the newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss.
UK's new travel advisory will be effective from October 4. The UK Government website said, "From 4am Monday 4 October 2021, the rules for international travel to England will change from the red, amber, green traffic light system to a single red list of countries and simplified travel measures for arrivals from the rest of the world. The rules for travel from countries and territories not on the red list will depend on your vaccination status."