UK Govt Gives Nod To Covishield, But Not To CoWIN Certificate — Why Travel Restrictions Will Remain

Double-vaccinated Indians will still have to undergo a mandatory quarantine and get tested upon arrival in the country as Britain still does not accept CoWIN certificates. 

Passengers at England airport. (Representative Image/ AFP)

New Delhi: Even though Covishield now has the status of an approved Covid-19 jab in the United Kingdom, there is still confusion over Britain government's vaccine recognition process for Indian travellers.

After facing a massive outburst and warning of "reciprocal measures" by Indian government, the UK on Wednesday updated Covishield on its revised travel advisory. 

However, double-vaccinated Indians will still have to undergo a mandatory quarantine and get tested upon arrival in the country as Britain does not accept CoWIN certificates. 

UK's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have said on Wednesday that they are unable to confirm this and will require further clarifications even though the advisory states: Formulations of the 4 listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines, news agency PTI reported. 

There has been widespread condemnation of the Serum Institute of India (SII) manufactured vaccines not being included in a list of eligible Covid-19 vaccines recognised under Britain's reviewed international travel norms, effective from October 4.

What Does Current UK Travel Advisory Imply For Indians?

India is now on the Amber list of UK's updated travel advisory. 

As per the revised advisory, under the new rules from October 4, it is mandatory for all Indian travellers to take a Covid-19 test three days before departure and book in advance for two Covid tests to be taken upon arrival in England.

On arrival in England, the passengers must self-isolate in the place they have confirmed on their passenger locator form for 10 days. A privately paid-for "Test to Release" option is given to travellers at day five, which allows an early end to the 10-day quarantine with a negative PCR test.

According to reports, Indian government is working with several countries to recognise India's vaccine certification on a mutual reciprocal basis. 

"We are engaging with the Government of India to explore how we could expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India. Indian travellers to the UK must follow the non-vaccinated rules," a British High Commission spokesperson told news agency ANI.

Indian vaccines including Covishield and others being eligible would mean that double vaccinated travellers would no longer require a pre-departure PCR test as long as they pre-book a day two test post-arrival in England and complete the compulsory passenger locator form in advance.

From October 4, travellers from 17 additional countries with eligible vaccines, including Australia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, will fall under the UK's list of recognised jabs of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines. 

The UK government reviews this list fortnightly.