No UK quarantine for Covishield vaccinated Indians from October 11

The UK government on Thursday added India to its vaccine-eligible countries list, which would mean vaccinated Indians will no long be required to quarantine on arrival from October 11.

Eligible travellers vaccinated in over 37 new countries, including India and Pakistan, will be treated the same as returning fully vaccinated UK residents, so long as they have not visited a red list country or territory in the 10 days before arriving in England, the Department for Transport said.

Those arriving before the cut off date of October 11 would still need to follow the rules for unvaccinated travellers.

The UK has further opened up international travel and will recognise India's vaccine certification system from October 11. The decision was taken after close technical cooperation between our ministries taking public health factors into account, said a spokesperson of British High Commission in India.

The extension of vaccine certification 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.

From October 11, Indian travellers who have received both doses of Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine at least 14 days before arrival in the UK can travel without having to quarantine; will not be required to take a pre-departure test nor take a day 8 test following their arrival.

Those not fully vaccinated with one of the four UK-recognised vaccines (Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna, Janssen) or any formulation of these vaccines, including Covishield, must take a pre-departure test, and must take a Covid19 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 five days under the Test to Release service.