UK approves India-made Covishield; ends quarantine rules for fully vaxxed Indians

Great news from England for Indians! The British government has decided to end quarantine rules for Indians fully vaccinated with Covishield from October 11. The UK Government has finally fully approved the India-made Covishield vaccine. The announcement comes on the same day India decided to reopen its borders for oversea tourists.

The UK government said that Indian travellers vaccinated with Covishield will be given equal treatment as fully vaccinated UK residents returning from a red list country. Along with India, the country has added 37 more countries and territories to its vaccine-eligible countries list, including Hong Kong, Brazil, Ghana, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey. However, those not eligible with approved vaccines still need to take a pre-departure test, a day 2 and day 8 test, and complete 10 days self-quarantine to enter the country.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said, “We’re now making it easier and cheaper for people to travel by allowing fully vaccinated travellers from non-red list countries to use lateral flow tests on day 2 of arrival, as long as they provide proof of use.”

No quarantine for Indian 🇮🇳 travellers to UK 🇬🇧 fully vaccinated with Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine from 11 October.

Thanks to Indian government for close cooperation over last month. pic.twitter.com/cbI8Gqp0Qt

— Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) October 7, 2021

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps took to Twitter and said, “Restoring people’s confidence in travel is key to rebuilding our economy and levelling up this country. With less restrictions and more people traveling, we can all continue to move safely forward together along our pathway to recovery.”

UPDATE: From Monday (11th Oct) 📅 I’ll be cutting 47 destinations from our red list – including South Africa, with just 7 countries and territories remaining ⚠️ - all others will be included in the “rest of world” category 🌐 [1/3]

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 7, 2021

New rules for Indian travellers who have been fully vaxxed with Covishield or other UK-approved vaccine are:

1) No quarantine
2) No pre-departure test or any other test.
3) But those with any other vaccine must continue to take a pre-departure test, and take tests on day 2 and day 8, and home quarantine for 10 days. If tested negative, the quarantine period would be shortened to 5 days.