UK to add India's Covaxin to approved vaccine list

New Delhi, Nov 09: The United Kingdom is likely to add India's Covaxin to its list of approved COVID-19 vaccines for international travellers from November 22. This means, those inoculated with the Bharat Biotech's Covaxin will not have to self-isolate after arrival in England.

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.

The changes will come into effect at 4 am on November 22.

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.

From 4am on Monday 22 November, we will recognise the following vaccines: Pfizer BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca (including Covishield), Moderna and Janssen (J&J), and WHO EUL including Sinovac, Sinopharm Beijing and Covaxin.

This comes as the government simplifies travel rules for all under-18s coming to England who will 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 1 post-arrival test and a confirmatory free PCR test if they test positive.

"As we continue to recover from the pandemic and expand our recognition of international vaccines, today's announcements mark the next step in our restart of international travel," said UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

"By also simplifying the rules for international travel for all under-18s coming to England, we're bringing further good news for families looking to unite with loved ones, and another great boost for the travel sector," he added.