The UK’s latest travel rule for India is not sitting well with Indians. The country has ruled that vaccinated Indians who have taken Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, will have to undergo self-isolation for a period of ten days. This is because according to the UK, Covishield vaccine is not approved, and hence travellers vaccinated with this will be considered unvaccinated.

India currently features in the Amber list of countries according to the system created by the UK. The UK has divided nations into three categories, red list, amber list, and green list for travel purposes.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the Foreign Secretary of India, said in a statement, “Have raised the discriminatory nature of UK vaccine recognition for AstraZeneca but not Covishield. Discussions on, but if they do not satisfy us, we would be well within our rights to take reciprocal action."

While the UK has decided to relax rules for people vaccinated with two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the country has disapproved of the same vaccine that is manufactured by Serum Institute of India, Pune.

Travellers from Amber list countries must get tested three days before travelling to the UK. It must be noted that those travellers who arrive without a negative COVID 19 test report before departing, will be fined a sum of £500. Amber list travellers also need to take COVID-19 test on the second day after arrival.