Covishield is now an approved vaccine in the UK - what this revised advisory means for travellers from India

In its revised travel advisory, the UK government had said that Covishield qualifies as an approved vaccine. "Formulations of the four listed vaccines such as AstraZeneca, Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines," an official statement read.

However, according to news reports, Indians vaccinated with two doses of Covishield will still require to quarantine. So this might indicate that the issue lies with not Covishield but there are doubts over vaccination certification in India, as per media reports.

In its latest travel update, the UK has said that from October 4, one will qualify as fully vaccinated if they are “vaccinated under an approved vaccination programme in the UK, Europe, USA or UK vaccine programme overseas with a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea or Taiwan”. So this does not solve India's problems. 

Ealier on Tuesday (September 21, 2021), Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla had said that the non-recognition of the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine is a discriminating policy. He added that it also impacts Indians travelling to the UK.  

At a media briefing, Shringla said he has been told that certain "assurances" were being given by the UK that the issue will be resolved.
"We have also offered to some of the partner countries the option of mutual recognition of vaccination certificates. But these are reciprocal measures. We have to see how it goes. But if we do not get satisfaction we would be within our rights to impose reciprocal measures," Shringla said.

The National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK, whose patron Congress Party MP Shashi Tharoor cancelled his planned UK visit in retaliation of the "offensive" rules, was among the many organisations in the UK rallying against the policy that would impact thousands of Indian students. "Delighted that Covishield has now been recognised by the UK government, and that all the lobbying has worked,? said NISAU chair Sanam Arora. Though the vaccine is now approved, India is not yet in the list of approved countries making it apparent that the 10-day quarantine and all associated rules still apply for other Indian vaccines. We will continue to urge authorities to take this to its natural conclusion," she said.

(With Agency inputs)