India UK hold talks on vaccine certification process British envoy
New Delhi Sep 23 PTI British High Commissioner Alex Ellis on Thursday said India and the UK held excellent technical discussion on the issue of vaccine certification Referring to new British travel rules Ellis had on Wednesday said there was no problem with Covishield vaccine and that the main issue is COVID-19 vaccine certification done through the CoWIN app Excellent technical discussions with rssharma3 AyushmanNHA Neither side raised technical concerns with each others certification process An important step forward in our joint aim to facilitate travel and fully protect public health of UK and India he tweeted on Thursday Following Indias strong criticism over the UKs refusal to recognise Covishield London on Wednesday amended its new guidelines to include the Indian-made version of the AstraZeneca vaccine in its updated international travel advisory However Indian travellers vaccinated with two doses of Covishield will still have to undergo 10 days of quarantine in the UK notwithstanding the amendment UK officials clarified on Wednesday saying the inclusion of the vaccine will not make much of a difference Were clear Covishield is not a problem The UK is open to travel and were already seeing a lot of people going from India to the UK be it tourists business people or students Ellis said in a statement on Wednesday We have been having detailed technical discussions regarding certification with the builders of the CoWIN app and the NHS app about both apps Theyre happening at a rapid pace to ensure that both countries mutually recognise the vaccine certificates issued by each other he said According to new rules Indian travellers who received both doses of the Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India will be considered unvaccinated and will have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days In a strong reaction India had on Tuesday warned of reciprocal measures if the UK does not address its concerns over the new travel rules relating to COVID-19 vaccine certification with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla describing these norms as discriminatory Referring to the latest guidelines issued by the UK government that will come into effect on October 4 another UK officials had said that London does not have any problem with the Covishield vaccine but there are certain issues related to vaccine certification in India The new British rules have triggered massive criticism in India External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took up the issue of Covishield-vaccinated travellers being required to quarantine in the UK with newly-appointed British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss at a meeting in New York on Tuesday PTI MPB ZMN ZMN
New Delhi Sep 23 PTI British High Commissioner Alex Ellis on Thursday said India and the UK held excellent technical discussion on the issue of vaccine certification Referring to new British travel rules Ellis had on Wednesday said there was no problem with Covishield vaccine and that the main issue is COVID-19 vaccine certification done through the CoWIN app Excellent technical discussions with rssharma3 AyushmanNHA Neither side raised technical concerns with each others certification process An important step forward in our joint aim to facilitate travel and fully protect public health of UK and India he tweeted on Thursday Following Indias strong criticism over the UKs refusal to recognise Covishield London on Wednesday amended its new guidelines to include the Indian-made version of the AstraZeneca vaccine in its updated international travel advisory However Indian travellers vaccinated with two doses of Covishield will still have to undergo 10 days of quarantine in the UK notwithstanding the amendment UK officials clarified on Wednesday saying the inclusion of the vaccine will not make much of a difference Were clear Covishield is not a problem The UK is open to travel and were already seeing a lot of people going from India to the UK be it tourists business people or students Ellis said in a statement on Wednesday We have been having detailed technical discussions regarding certification with the builders of the CoWIN app and the NHS app about both apps Theyre happening at a rapid pace to ensure that both countries mutually recognise the vaccine certificates issued by each other he said According to new rules Indian travellers who received both doses of the Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India will be considered unvaccinated and will have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days In a strong reaction India had on Tuesday warned of reciprocal measures if the UK does not address its concerns over the new travel rules relating to COVID-19 vaccine certification with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla describing these norms as discriminatory Referring to the latest guidelines issued by the UK government that will come into effect on October 4 another UK officials had said that London does not have any problem with the Covishield vaccine but there are certain issues related to vaccine certification in India The new British rules have triggered massive criticism in India External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took up the issue of Covishield-vaccinated travellers being required to quarantine in the UK with newly-appointed British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss at a meeting in New York on Tuesday PTI MPB ZMN ZMN
