The United Kingdom on Thursday announced that from 11th October, Indian travellers, fully vaccinated with Covishield would not have to undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine after arrival in the U.K .
British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, stated in his tweet, “No quarantine for Indian travellers to UK. Fully vaccinated with Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine from 11th October. Thanks to the Indian government for close cooperation over last month”.
Fight for Recognition:
When Covishield was excluded from the European Union’s Green Pass, students and travellers across India struggled to enter foreign lands. Even in countries such as the U.K., where approval of Covishield existed as a valid vaccination, the question remained about the validity of Indian vaccination certificates.
The authorities of the U.K. argues that they have trouble accepting the credibility of India’s vaccination certificates, thus making it challenging to accept Indian nationals in their country.
On the development of the issue, U.K. removed India from the ‘Red list’ and moved it to the ‘Amber List’ of the traffic lights system of vaccination on 8th August. Thus, converting Indian traveller’s need to quarantine in a hotel/institution to a home quarantine of 10 days. But this measure still placed Indian travellers under the list of “unvaccinated”.
Consequently, after this step, India’s Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla stated that “India could impose reciprocal measures if the U.K continued with its policy on Covishield”. He termed the U.K.’s policy as ‘discriminatory’.
Tit for Tat:
On 22nd September, the United Kingdom revised its travel advisory, saying that Covishield qualifies as an approved vaccine for travellers visiting Britain from any part of the world from 4th October onwards.
This move ended the need for a pre-PCR test before departure. However, this never meant that fully vaccinated travellers from India would be relieved from the 10-day home quarantine. The U.K. had added Covishield to its approved vaccine list, but the quarantine rule was still too followed.
Weeks after the U.K. has imposed quarantine restrictions on travellers vaccinated with the Covishield vaccine, India reciprocated it by announcing that the U.K. nationals arriving in India would have to undergo 10-day quarantine from midnight of 4th October.
In response to this, the U.K. had said that it would continue to collaborate with India to resolve the issue in vaccine certifications and recognition of certificates for people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India.
Thus, in current development, the U.K. announced removing quarantine restrictions on Indian travellers fully jabbed with the Covishield vaccine, jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).
Trouble in Paradise:
Till the easing of restrictions on the entry of Indian traveller in the U.K., Indian students and tourists faced immense difficulty leading to loss of time and education.
In light of the issue, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, manufacturer of the Covishield vaccine, had set aside Rs 10 crore for Indian students struggling with quarantine restrictions abroad, compensating the students for their loss while the issue settles.
The pandemic has already affected thousands of lives, and the post-vaccination issue proved to be a threat in bilateral ties compromising the freedom of citizens and students.
Thus, resolution of the matter is a step forward towards the new normal where the doubt of foreigners as carriers of virus/bacteria needs to be eradicated. Precaution coupled with prevention is proving to be a way to lead a healthy social life.
