India has announced mandatory 10-day quarantine for all travellers coming to the country from the United Kingdom (UK). People familiar with the development said, the measures come in response to the UK government’s latest travel rules, where Covishield is an approved vaccine against COVID-19 but India’s vaccine certificate is not recognized. India’s stern measure comes after the Indian government warned of ‘reciprocal measures’ to the UK government’s differential treatment of India’s vaccination.
Despite their vaccination status, all passengers from the United Kingdom will have to undergo a mandatory quarantine upon arrival in India. In addition, they will need to produce the result of the RT-PCR test done within 72 hours before travel. After their arrival and on day 8, they will have to take the RT-PCR tests again. The mandatory quarantine can be done at home or the destination address. The UK government recently revised its travel guidelines to be effective from October 4th in which CoWin certificate did not get the approval which testifies the vaccination status of someone who has received the jab in India.
Several rounds of meetings took place between Indian and UK representatives. After the meeting, both expressed satisfaction and said there seems to be no problem regarding Covishield or the certificate. Reports said India is mulling to add the full date of birth on the certificate for people travelling abroad. However, the ‘reciprocal’ move indicates that the issue over Covishield has not been resolved.