The United Kingdom of Britain announced that it is adding Covaxin and China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm Beijing vaccines to its list of approved vaccines following their ’emergency-use listing’ by the World Health Organization (WHO). Around one billion doses of these three Covid-19 vaccines have been delivered worldwide. The approval come as a breath of relief for travellers from India, United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia where either of the two vaccines were administered. The changes will come into force from November 22.
UK Travel Latest Updates
- The WHO issued an emergency-use listing for Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, on November 3 and added the jab to a growing portfolio of vaccines validated by the health body for preventing Covid-19. The listing followed an assessment of the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine and allows countries to expedite their own regulatory approval for the jab.
- The changes, which come into force from Nov. 22, will benefit fully vaccinated people from countries including the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and India.
- The travel rules are being further simplified as all people under the age of 18 will be treated as fully vaccinated at the border and will be able to enter England without self-isolating on arrival, the Department for Transport said on Monday.
- The UK began recognising Covishield, the Indian version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, for inbound travel from October 4
Also Read: Germany Welcomes UAE Travellers Regardless Of Vaccination Status
Other Vaccines Accepted by UK
As a result of the expansion of the list, UK now recognises — Pfizer BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca (including India’s Covishield), Moderna and Janssen (Johnson and Johnson) and WHO EUL that includes Sinovac, Sinopharm Beijing and Covaxin.
Testing & Quarantine Rules For Incoming Passengers
Passengers who have been fully vaccinated and have received their vaccine certificate from one of over 135 approved countries and territories are not required to take a pre-departure test, day 8 test or self-isolate upon arrival. Instead, passengers will just need to pay for a lateral flow test to take before the end of their second day, post-arrival; declared the announcement from the Government of the UK, reports The Hindu.
The move is aimed at simplifying travel rules and as a result, passengers from most (135 countries and territories) of the world will be able to travel to the UK.
