UK govt confirms, person vaccinated in India to be considered “unvaccinated”

If you have take both dose of Covishield or Covaxin and are planning to fly UK, then you might have to go through a COVID-19 test and undergo a 10 days quarantine. The UK government confirm that if a person has been vaccinated in Africa, or South America, or countries including UAE, India, Turkey, Jordan, Thailand, Russia they will be considered “unvaccinated” and must follow “unvaccinated” rules i.e.10 day home quarantine & tests. 

Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said it is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The MP also said he has pulled out of a debate at Cambridge Union and out of launch events for the UK edition of his book.

"Because of this, I have pulled out of a debate at the @cambridgeunion and out of launch events for the UK edition of my book #TheBattleOfBelonging (published there as #TheStruggleForIndiasSoul). It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The Brits are reviewing!," Tharoor said in a tweet.

Jairam Ramesh termed UK's restrictions "absolutely bizarre"."Absolutely bizarre considering Covishield was originally developed in the UK and The Serum Institute, Pune has supplied to that country too! This smacks of racism," he said in a tweet.

The red category is for countries that pose the highest public health risk amid coronavirus, therefore strict rules apply. The guidelines stipulate that regardless of vaccination status, travellers from India must take a pre-departure test, and must take a COVID 19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8, and self-isolate for 10 days. Travellers can also choose to shorten their home quarantine to around 5 days under the 'Test to Release' service.

The rules will be enforced “From 4am Monday 4 October 2021,” according to the UK government’s website. Britain is facing flak and is under increasing pressure to review its vaccine protocol.

Because of this I have pulled out of a debate at the @cambridgeunion &out of launch events for the UK edition of my book #TheBattleOfBelonging (published there as #TheStruggleForIndiasSoul). It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The Brits are reviewing! https://t.co/YEVy3Ez5dj

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 20, 2021

Absolutely bizarre considering Covishield was originally developed in the UK and The Serum Institute, Pune has supplied to that country too! This smacks of racism. https://t.co/GtKOzMgydf

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 20, 2021