India slams UK’s new travel rules as ‘discriminatory,’ warns of retaliation

[superadmin]

• The U.K. last week announced that fully vaccinated individuals from a list of 17 countries and territories will not have to quarantine upon arrival in England.
  
• Missing from the list was India, where the predominant Covid vaccine used in the country is identical to the one developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca.
  
• India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla called the U.K.’s decision not to recognize the Indian version of the vaccine “discriminatory” and warned of reciprocal measures, though he did not elaborate.
  

India slammed the U.K.’s decision to exclude vaccinated Indian travelers from its new travel guidelines, calling it “discriminatory” and warning of reciprocal measures.

The British government will next month allow fully vaccinated travelers from a list of countries to skip quarantine upon arrival — but Indians who are fully vaccinated will still need to be quarantined.

The U.K. last week eased travel restrictions for fully vaccinated individuals from 17 countries and territories, including Japan and Singapore, saying they would not have to stay in quarantine for 10 days after arriving in England.

From Oct. 4, travelers from those destinations would have to show that they received a full course of one of the Covid vaccines currently approved in the U.K., at least two weeks prior to their arrival. The approved vaccines are: Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen.

India’s main vaccine is the one from Oxford University and British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca — but it is manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India under the name Covishield. It has been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization.


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