The UK government said that COVID-19 vaccine certification from all countries must meet a “minimum criteria”. It also said that it is working with India on a “phased approach” to its international travel norms.
In the new guidelines, the country has included Covishield, the Serum Institute of India manufactured Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, eligible to an expanded UK travel advisory on Wednesday.
“As part of our recently expanded inbound vaccination policy, we recognise the following vaccines Pfizer BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen (J&J), for the purposes of international travel. This now includes the formulations AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda,” a UK government spokesperson said.
“Our top priority remains protecting public health, and reopening travel in a safe and sustainable way, which is why vaccine certification from all countries must meet the minimum criteria taking into account public health and wider considerations. We continue to work with international partners, including India, to roll out our phased approach,” the spokesperson said.
Travellers who are not fully vaccinated, or vaccinated in a country such as India are currently not on the UK government’s recognised list. They are expected to take a pre-departure test, pay for day two and day eight PCR tests after arrival in England and self-isolate for 10 days, with an option to “test to release” after five days following a negative PCR test.
