UK's approval of Covaxin as valid vaccine for travel comes into effect from today; No quarantine upon arrival

New Delhi, Nov 22: From today, people vaccinated with Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 jab Covaxin will be added to list of approved COVID-19 vaccines by the United Kingdom for international travellers, meaning that those inoculated with the Bharat Biotech-manufactured jab will not have to self-isolate after arrival in England.

The move follows the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing for Covaxin, which is the second most used formulation in India.

Covishield, the India-manufactured Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, was added to the UK's approved list last month.

"More good news for Indian travellers to the UK. From 22 November travellers fully vaccinated with a COVID19 vaccine recognised by WHO for Emergency Use Listing, including Covaxin, will not have to self-isolate; so joining those fully vaccinated with Covishield," Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said on Twitter on Monday.

Besides Covaxin, China's Sinovac and Sinopharm, both on the WHO Emergency Use Listing, will be recognised by the UK government as approved vaccines for inbound travel, benefitting fully vaccinated people from the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. These fully vaccinated passengers will not be required to take a pre-departure test, day-8 test or self-isolate upon arrival.

The UK government has also simplified the travel rules for all under-18s coming to England. They will now be treated as fully vaccinated at the border and will be exempt from self-isolation requirements on arrival, day-8 testing and pre-departure testing. They will only be required to take one post-arrival test and a confirmatory free PCR test if they test positive.