United Kingdom in talks with India over coronavirus vaccine certificate issue in new travel guidelines

London : United Kingdom has issued a fresh statement saying that they are in talks with Indian authorities to sort out the authenticity of the vaccine certificate issued by the latter.

British High Commission released the statement amid criticism over the new travel guidelines which claimed that 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.

Questioned about the new rules issued, the British High Commission spokesperson said that they are engaged in talks with India and are committed to opening up international travel again "as soon as is practicable".

"The UK is committed to opening up international travel again as soon as is practicable and this announcement is a further step to enable people to travel more freely again, in a safe and sustainable way, while protecting public health," the spokesperson 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," the official added.

From October 4, the current "traffic light system" of red, amber, green countries based on levels of COVID-19 risk will be replaced by one red list of countries.

The expanded list of countries whose vaccines are recognised in the UK does not include India. It means Indians vaccinated with Covishield, the SII-produced Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, would be required to undergo compulsory PCR tests as well as self-isolation.