Britain said on Monday that it is in talks with India to find out what kind of recognition it can extend COVID-19 Vaccine certification issued by Indian authorities amid criticism of new British travel rules.
The comments from a British High Commission spokesperson here came amid concerns in India over the latest COVID-related travel restrictions announced by the United Kingdom.
As per the new rules, Indian travelers who have received both doses of the Kovidshield vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) will be considered non-vaccinated and will have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days.
Asked about concerns in India over the new rules that will come into force from October 4, a British High Commission spokesperson said the UK is engaged with India on the issue and is looking to reopen international travel “as soon as possible”. Committed to. .
“The UK is committed to reopening international travel as soon as possible and this announcement is a step forward to enable people to travel more freely again in a safe and sustainable manner while protecting public health,” the spokesperson said. Another step.”
“We are in talks with the Indian government to find out how we can extend the UK’s recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India,” the official said.
From October 4, the current “traffic light system” of red, amber, green countries will be replaced by a red list of countries based on levels of COVID-19 risk.
The elimination of the Amber list, which India currently has, means that the burden of PCR testing costs has been reduced for some passengers.
India is not included in the expanded list of countries whose vaccines are recognized in the UK. This means Indians vaccinated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Covishield, SII, will have to undergo mandatory PCR tests as well as self-isolation.
People familiar with the development said the UK has kept visa rules under constant review during the pandemic to keep borders open, while slowly and safely resuming travel.
“The UK will continue to review the scientific evidence on other vaccines and will put the health measures under regular review,” said one of the individuals cited above.
The people said visa applications of Indian travelers for all categories are under process and they do not require vaccination to travel to the UK.
He said that regardless of the vaccination status of an Indian citizen, a person traveling from India to the UK would have to undergo a pre-departure test and a COVID-19 test on or before two days of travel and on or after the eighth day of travel. , and self- isolated for 10 days.
The people said travelers can choose to shorten their home quarantine period to about five days under the “test to release” service.
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