UK: No quarantine for Covishield vaccinated Indians from today- Know guidelines to follow

The United Kingdom has changed travel guidelines for Indians arriving in the country. As per the new guidelines, Indian travelers who received two doses of Covishield vaccine will be free from mandatory quarantine requirements. The changes will take effect from today on wards.

The changed travel guidelines follow:

Indian travelers will be considered fully vaccinated if they had taken the second dose of the Covishield vaccine at least 14 days before their arrival in UK.

However, the day on which the second/final dose does was taken will not be counted as one of the 14 days, the government advisory said.

The Indian travelers will also have to complete a passenger locator form 48 hours before their arrival in the UK.

“India will be added to this list of countries and territories with approved proof of vaccination 4 am Monday 11 October. If you arrive in England before that date you must follow the rules for people who are not fully vaccinated. If you arrive after that, you can use a vaccine certificate to prove your vaccination status,” the UK advisory said.

The British High Commissioner to India on Thursday said that there would be no quarantine required for fully vaccinated Indian travelers in the UK from October 11, thereby ending the row over what New Delhi described as “discriminatory” travel rules by London.

However, travelers who received indigenous Covaxin still need to undergo quarantine in the U.K upon arrival.

“We have to look at each process in terms of each vaccine. In turn, we start with the ones who are recognized by a regulator that includes obviously Covishield,” the High Commissioner commented about the possible recognition of Covaxin according to a report by news agency ANI.

The new decision to avoid Indian travelers from mandatory quarantine requirement had come amid the row between India and the U.K over approval of the vaccination certificate.

India had imposed mandatory 10-day quarantine for the fully vaccinated U.K citizens who arrive in the country. India’s decision had come as a reciprocal action against the similar rules imposed by the U.K on Indian travelers.

Earlier, the U.K made it compulsory for Indian travelers to under go quarantine and tests as they allegedly detected irregularities in India’s CoWin vaccination certificate. However, the U.K approved India’s Covishield vaccine and included in the approved category list.