"India Still Has Some Covid": UK On Stricter Quarantine Rules For Indians
NDTV
India had on Tuesday warned of "reciprocal action" against the "discriminatory nature of UK vaccine recognition".
Amid an escalating controversy over the UK government enforcing a strict quarantine for Indian travellers fully inoculated against Covid with Covishield, Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India, has clarified that the Serum Institute of India-made vaccine "is not the issue". Although it is the same as the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine used in the UK's immunisation programme, it had not been approved by the government there until now. Even now, Covishield is only recognised if administered in one of the 17 "green-listed" countries -- India is not part of this list.
Indian travellers fully vaccinated with Covishield still have to undergo strict a quarantine of ten days and take two RT-PCR tests.
"The question is, were you a 'green-listed' country? On our list of 17 countries are mainly 'green-listed' countries because they have very low levels of covid...India still has some Covid as we know. That's why it is on the 'amber' list," Mr Ellis told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
When asked if Covishield had now been approved under diplomatic pressure, he said, "We listen very carefully to what the Indian government says."
