UK govt approves Covishield as qualified vaccine for travel amid row over discrimination

New Delhi, Sep 22: In its revised travel advisory, the UK government has recognised Covishield as a qualified covid vaccine for travel. However, India was not mentioned in the list of countries (where Covishield is administered) in the new UK travel advisory. Indians therefore will still require to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival in the UK.

"Formulations of the four listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Modern Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines," the UK guidelines said.

A traveller must have had a complete course or two doses of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before arrival in England, it said.

India on Tuesday warned of "reciprocal measures" if the UK does not address its concerns over the new travel rules relating to COVID-19 vaccine certification.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took up the issue of Covishield-vaccinated travellers being required to quarantine in the UK with newly-appointed British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss at a meeting in New York.

"The basic issue is that here is a vaccine, Covishield, which is a licensed product of the UK company, manufactured in India of which we have supplied five million doses to the UK at the request of the government of the UK.

"We understand that this is being used under the national health system, and, therefore, non-recognition of Covishield is a discriminatory policy and does impact those of our citizens travelling to the UK," Shringla said at a media briefing here.