'Racist, Biased': Indians Slam New UK Travel Restrictions As It Opens Up For Flyers

The latest changes in the UK government¡¯s Covid-19-related travel restrictions have upset the Indian flyers who have got both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but will still be considered ¡°unvaccinated¡± and will have to undergo 10 days of quarantine.

The new travel rules have been blasted as "offensive" "bizarre" and "racist". The restrictions mean people vaccinated in India will still have to home quarantine for 10 days in the UK when those vaccinated in scores of other countries will not.

AP

What are the new rules?

The new rules, which were unveiled on Friday and will become effective from October 4, were described by the UK as an attempt to change the current ¡°red, amber, green traffic light system¡± to a single red list of countries and ¡°simplified travel measures¡± for arrivals from around the world.

Under these rules, only people who have got both shots of a double-dose vaccine such as Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna or the single shot Janssen vaccine ¡°under an approved vaccination program in the UK, Europe, US or UK vaccine programme overseas¡± will be considered fully vaccinated.

BCCL

Who will be affected?

The change in UK rules is said to mostly affect students, who are now returning in large numbers to British universities or travelling to Britain to start new courses. The change will mean they will have to pay extra for more tests and to quarantine.

indiatimes

What are Indians saying?

Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh tweeted: "Absolutely bizarre considering Covishield was originally developed in the UK and the Serum Institute, Pune has supplied to that country too! This smacks of racism."

Absolutely bizarre considering Covishield was originally developed in the UK and The Serum Institute, Pune has supplied to that country too! This smacks of racism. https://t.co/GtKOzMgydf

¡ª Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 20, 2021

Aware of the backlash on social media after senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor pulled out of a Cambridge Union debate and his own book launch events in Britain to protest against the latest curbs, the UK announced it was willing to engage with the Indian government to resolve the matter. Tharoor tweeted: "It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine."

Because of this I have pulled out of a debate at the @cambridgeunion &out of launch events for the UK edition of my book #TheBattleOfBelonging (published there as #TheStruggleForIndiasSoul). It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine. The Brits are reviewing! https://t.co/YEVy3Ez5dj

¡ª Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 20, 2021

Fully vaccinated Indians travelling to UK will be treated as unvaccinated by the UK and will have to go through 10 days self quarantine followed by a test. Strange because Covishield was developed in the UK! India should return the favour.

¡ª Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) September 20, 2021

I hope @DrSJaishankar also conveyed the outrage in India over the bizarre non-recognition of the Covishield vaccine that, ironically, was developed in UK & is widely used there. No wonder there are charges of ¡®racism¡¯.I wonder how this vitiated environment will help FTA talks. https://t.co/kyWvW3ubsu

¡ª Swapan Dasgupta (@swapan55) September 21, 2021

Most bizarre and unfair. Covishield , Astra Zeneca¡¯s vaccine,made under licence in India and even exported back to the UK and used there. Also approved in Europe and by WHO. How can the UK not recognize it? ?@adarpoonawalla? ?@kiranshaw? ?@SerumInstIndia? pic.twitter.com/KuoYmXyqHZ

¡ª Dr.V.Mohan (@drmohanv) September 21, 2021

Dear @DrSJaishankar ji,
We expect you to raise the issue of discriminatory travel policy of UK against #Covishield.

I am sure under your dynamic leadership you would take it head-on and solve this issue ASAP. https://t.co/yFIoMWTnOc

¡ª Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) September 21, 2021

Others on Twitter reacted too

That¡¯s totally illogical when you consider that UK has donated 817,00 doses of AZ vaccines to Kenya! Are they now saying they don¡¯t trust the vaccines they gave out! Total madness

¡ª Tropicopter (@redinfuriator) September 18, 2021

The racism in this ¡°policy¡± is astounding!!!??¡­ after countries of the Global South have had to take out debts, bonds and loans to buy these same vaccines from UK & American pharmaceuticals, as their patent laws are tight! What a wow!!!

¡ª Lerato Mbele (@mbele_lnb) September 18, 2021

Are those vaccinated in other nations restricted too?

The rules also consider who have received jabs under public health bodies in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei,Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea or Taiwan as fully vaccinated.

Agencies

Besides India, several other countries are upset by the change in the UK¡¯s travel restrictions, including countries in Africa, South America and West Asia that have been using the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines that are also used in Britain.