On Monday (November 22), the United Kingdom recognised India’s indigenous Coronavirus vaccine Covaxin as valid in the country.
In a statement released by the UK government, it said, “From 4am on Monday 22 November, the government will recognise vaccines on the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL). As a result, Sinovac, Sinopharm Beijing and Covaxin will be added to our list of approved vaccines for inbound travel, benefitting more fully vaccinated people from countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and India.”
It added, “Sinovac, Sinopharm Beijing and Covaxin are covered by the expansion to the WHO EUL, and around 1 billion doses of these vaccines have been delivered worldwide.” On November 8, the British High Commissioner to India, Alex Hales had informed, “From 22 November travellers fully vaccinated with a #COVID19 vaccine recognised by @WHO for Emergency Use Listing, including Covaxin, will not have to self-isolate; so joining those fully vaccinated with Covishield.”
More good news for 🇮🇳 travellers to 🇬🇧👇
— Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) November 8, 2021
From 22 November travellers fully vaccinated with a #COVID19 vaccine recognised by @WHO for Emergency Use Listing, including Covaxin, will not have to self-isolate; so joining those fully vaccinated with Covishield.https://t.co/UyJsryBd0O https://t.co/mZhaqRgB35
As such, Indians who have received double doses (fully vaccinated) of Covaxin and have the associated Covid-19 certificate will be exempted from a pre-departure Covid-19 test. They will also be not required to self-isolate on arrival in the UK or undergo testing on Day 8. However, they will need to undertake a lateral flow test before the end of the second day of their visit to the UK. As of now, the United Kingdom has recognised the following vaccines. now include Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Moderna, Janssen, Pfizer BioNTech, Sinovac, Sinopharm Beijing and Covaxin.
WHO approved Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, granted it Emergency Use Listing status
The World Health Organization (WHO) on November 3 granted the Emergency Use Listing status to Covaxin after the Technical Advisory Group of WHO recommended the same. In a tweet thread, WHO said the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), an independent advisory committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has recommended Emergency Use Listing (EUL) status for Covaxin, the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by India’s Bharat Biotech.
It further added, “The Technical Advisory Group, convened by WHO and made up of regulatory experts from around the world, has determined that the #Covaxin vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against #COVID19, that the benefit of the vaccine far outweighs risks & the vaccine can be used Earth globe Europe-Africa.”
