London: the united kingdom government has said that COVID-19 vaccine certification from all countries must meet a “minimum criteria” which it’s working with India on a “phased approach” to its international travel norms It follows Covishield, the Serum Institute of India manufactured Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, being added as eligible to an expanded UK travel advisory on Wednesday But with India’s vaccine certification not on an inventory of 18 approved countries, Indian travellers to the united kingdom will still be treated as non-vaccinated and thus required to quarantine for 10 days on arrival.
Following much confusion over this process, UK government sources said on Wednesday night that additions or changes to the approved country listings are being kept under “regular consideration”, but there was no further clarity on the specified criteria for approving a country’s vaccine certification As a part of our recently expanded inbound vaccination policy, we recognise the subsequent vaccines Pfizer BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen (J&J), for the needs of international travel. This now includes the formulations AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda,” a UK government spokesperson said.
“Our top priority remains protecting public health, and reopening travel during a safe and sustainable way, which is why vaccine certification from all countries must meet the minimum criteria taking under consideration public health and wider considerations. We still work with international partners, including India, to roll out our phased approach,” the spokesperson said Travellers who aren’t fully vaccinated, or vaccinated during a country like India currently not on the united kingdom government’s recognised list, must take a pre-departure test, buy day two and day eight PCR tests after arrival in England and self-isolate for 10 days, with an choice to “test to release” after five days following a negative PCR test.
With regard to an outcry over India’s vaccination certification not being recognised despite Covishield being one among two main COVID-19 vaccines administered in India, UK government sources would only say that the rollout of its inbound vaccination programme to other countries and territories was always intended as a “phased approach”, building on the success of pilots with the US and Europe.
From October 4, England’s traffic signal system of red, amber and green countries supported levels of COVID-19 risk is to be officially scrapped. However, despite Covishield now being recognised within the UK’s eligible vaccine formulations, it might not offer any advantage to Covishield-vaccinated Indian travellers planning a UK visit The Indian government has expressed its strong condemnation of such a move and warned of “reciprocal measures” if vaccinated travellers from India continued to be treated during a “discriminatory” way.
