From Oct 11 onwards, Indians fully vaccinated with covishield will not be required to undergo the mandatory 10-day quarantine upon arrival in UK. A long standoff between the two countries that led to retaliation by India by imposing the same measures on UK citizens have now come to an end. From October 11 onwards, Indian travelers who have undertaken both doses of Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine at least 14 days before arriving in the UK would be able to travel without having to quarantine. No pre-departure test, or day 8 test following their arrival in UK is required now. They would just need a covid test on day 2 which is lesser expensive and is the “lateral flow” test and not the RT-PCT.
The UK decision was tweeted by British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis. The decision came hours after Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had called UK’s decision to quarantine Indians fully vaccinated with Covishield as “discriminatory”. He had informed that India’s reciprocal actions on the same lines for UK nationals entering India had started from October 4. UK’s decision to ease quarantine norms for Indians stems from this reciprocal measure adopted by India.
