UK to allow travellers vaccinated with Covishield from Oct 4

After much controversy, UK Govt has accepted India manufactured Covishield as an approved vaccine.

The updated guidelines by the UK state, "Formulations of the four listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Modern Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines."

The expanded list of accepted vaccines come into force from October 4. The travellers however must have finished the 2 dose course at least 14 days prior to travel. 

Reports however indicate the reason behind Serum produced Covishield being left out of the 'accepted' list was due to the UK government raising doubts on the CoWin certification process and not due to any production quality concerns.  

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the world's largest vaccine producer Serum appealed to global leaders to harmonise vaccine certification on priority.

Poonawalla was quoted as saying “It is not regulatory filing or quality systems but vaccine certificate systems that western nations are struggling to find a way out."