New Delhi: The UK government's decision to not recognise Covishield as a legitimate anti-Covid vaccine is "discriminatory" and it is within the country's "right to take reciprocal measures" if the matter was not resolved, India said on Tuesday. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said this move impacts Indian citizens travelling to that country.
"The non-recognition of Covishield is a discriminating policy and impacts our citizens travelling to the UK. The External Affairs minister has raised the issue strongly with the new UK Foreign Secretary. I am told that certain assurances have been given that this issue will be resolved," Shringla said at a press conference in New Delhi.
His comments came on a day when Union Foreign minister S Jaishankar tweeted about discussing the matter with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on the sidelines of the high-level 76th session of the UN General Assembly.
The meeting in New York took place on the same day when the UK announced its new Covid-related travel restrictions that sparked sharp criticism and concerns in India.
According to these new rules, Indian travellers who have received both doses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will be considered unvaccinated and will have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days.
Covishield was developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and pharma giant AstraZeneca. It was one of the two vaccines deployed by India — Covaxin being the other — in its nationwide Covid vaccination drive launched this January by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Covaxin was developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research.
The expanded list of countries whose vaccines are recognised in the UK does not include India. It means Indians vaccinated with Covishield would be required to undergo compulsory polymerase chain reaction tests as well as self-isolation.
The new rules will come into effect next month.
Amid criticism of the new British travel rules, the UK has said it is engaging with India to explore how it could expand the recognition of the COVID-19 vaccine certification issued by Indian authorities, a national news agency reported.
Asked about the concerns in India, a British High Commission spokesperson in New Delhi said: "We are engaging with the Government of India to explore how we could expand the UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India."
Meanwhile, the United States will reopen in November to all air passengers who are fully vaccinated against Covid. India is among the 33 countries from where fully vaccinated travellers will be allowed to enter. Effectively, Covishield is the only India-made vaccine that is on the list of approved vaccines as of now.
From November, the US will admit fully vaccinated air travellers from the 26 so-called Schengen countries in Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Greece, as well as Britain, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.
Soon after announcing the move, the White House clarified that the final decision on what vaccines would be accepted is up to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The top medical body of the country has said it considers a person "fully vaccinated" against Coronavirus if they have received any FDA-authorised jab or any vaccine that has been authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Foreign nationals will need to present proof of vaccination before travel and will not be required to quarantine on arrival.