UK recognises Covishield but has issues with vaccine certificate

Country wants details of CoWin app; for now, travellers will have to home-isolate

The United Kingdom has finally recognised Covishield, the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India. However, the travails of Indians travelling to the UK aren’t over. The country, which appears to have doubts over vaccine certification in India, has not removed the home isolation requirement for vaccinated Indians and has sought details regarding the working of the CoWin app.

The recognition to Covishield, meanwhile, came a day after an angry response from India's external affairs ministry, which dubbed the British policy as discriminatory. India also warned of “reciprocal measures” if the UK did not make policy corrections.

On September17, the UK introd­u­ced a new system for international travel, removing the home isolation requirement for vaccinated individuals from certain countries. The benefit was extended to an extra 17 countries, including those in Asia and the Caribbean. India, however, was not included in the list and travellers from here (including those who are fully vaccinated with both doses of Covi­shield) would have to self-isolate for 10 days upon arrival in the UK, acco­r­ding to existing norms. The new policy comes into effect from October 4.

Speaking to a news channel, British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said technical discussions were on to understand the working of the CoWin app. While Ellis did not commit to a timeline as to when Indians would be able to visit the UK without having to self-isolate, he said the issue was being looked into urgently.

He also added that the 17 countries included in the latest list were part of a green list with low Covid-19 prevalence. Passen­gers arriving from these countries were not required to quarantine upon arrival.

R S Sharma, chief of National Health Authority (NHA), which operates CoWin, also confirmed that discussions were ongoing with the UK on the matter. Speaking to a television channel, Sharma said there was no communication from the MEA or the UK High Comm­is­sion on whether there were issues related to the CoWin app.

“The British High Commis­sio­ner met me on September 2, and he and his colleagues wanted to understand the architecture of CoWin,” Sharma said. They have had two meetings on the matter so far. The second meeting was held on Tues­day. Sharma told the news channel they are not aware of any concerns so far. The meetings, he added, are to understand how the process of vaccination happens, how they are registered on the platforms, how the certificates are generated, and how they are encrypted.

Separately in a statement, Ellis said, “We have been having detailed technical discussions regarding certification, with the builders of the CoWin app and the NHS app, about both apps. They’re happening at a ra­pid pace, to ensure that both coun­t­ries mutually recognise the vaccin­e certificates issued by each other.”