With India’s Covaxin not yet approved by WHO, international travel for Indian nationals is likely to get complicated. “It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine,” India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla has said and spoke about reciprocal measures
Amid increase in demand for leisure travel, UK unveiled its updated travel rules effective Oct 4. While sharing the good news that Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) would qualify, Scotland will now follow England and people arriving from non-red list countries will not need a negative test report if they are vaccinated.
Northern Ireland and Wales, have not yet stated their stance on the issue.
With India’s Covaxin not yet approved by WHO, international travel for Indian nationals is likely to get complicated. “It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine,” India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla has said and spoke about reciprocal measures. Lawmaker, Jairam Ramesh, said the decision “smacks of racism.” The approved vaccines are: Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had recently invited fellow parliamentarians of Conservative Party for a drinks reception at Downing Street. But then there was a condition too, that they should have a ‘Covid pass’ – or proof of being vaccinated or a recent negative test. Some Parliamentarians were unhappy but this is how things are in UK.
Non-UK citizens or residents are heaving a sigh of relief, as they will not have to pay for hotel quarantine. Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, the Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey that had been red, are now Amber-list countries and Red-list countries are those the UK government says should not be visited “except in the most extreme of circumstances”
In this backdrop, it is not at all surprising that UK Travel service providers and online travel agents (OTAs) are apprehensive of organizing trips to UK, though hopeful that curbs on Indians will be eased.
It is important to note here that though overall curbs have been eased, a PCR test two days after arrival is mandatory, while at the same time, those not fully vaccinated will need a pre-departure test and a PCR test on days two and eight after they return. Quarantine for 10 days will also be needed. Also, Indians who are fully vaccinated will still need to be quarantined while fully vaccinated individuals from a list of 17 countries will be able to skip being quarantined.
Non-UK citizens or residents are heaving a sigh of relief, as they will not have to pay for hotel quarantine. Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, the Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey that had been red, are now Amber-list countries and Red-list countries are those the UK government says should not be visited “except in the most extreme of circumstances”.
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