TIT FOR TAT: India-Brit feud has larger repercussions

India says that British nationals arriving in the country will be subjected to COVID-19 tests and a 10-day mandatory quarantine in response to similar measures imposed on Indians visiting the UK. However, some are worried that the retaliatory snub illustrates that British vaccine approval protocols will escalate beyond the feuding nations and inflame anti-vax fears in Africa and other locales, particularly where AstraZeneca is administered.

India has been demanding that Britain revoke what it called a “discriminatory” advisory that includes Indians even if they are fully vaccinated with the Indian-made AstraZeneca shots.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had discussed the issue with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in a meeting in New York last week, but a foreign ministry official said that starting today (Monday), all British arrivals, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undertake RT-PRC test within 72 hours before travel, another test on arrival in India, and the third one eight days later.

They will also have to quarantine at home or at their destination address for 10 days, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

The trouble started when Britain’s government announced what it billed as a simplification of its travel rules including allowing fully vaccinated travellers arriving in England from much of the world to skip quarantine and take fewer tests.

But the fine print on who was considered fully vaccinated proved complicated. In order to skip self-isolation, travellers must have received a vaccine under the American, British, or European programs or have received a UK-authorized shot from an approved health body. Bodies in more than a dozen countries in Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East made it to the list, However, India’s program was not included, nor were any programs in Africa.

The exemption applies to some European countries outside the EU, such as Norway and Iceland, but fully vaccinated travellers from Canada will still have to undergo quarantine.

The U.K. Department for Transport confirmed that the change does not apply to Canadians, but no reason has been given for the exclusion.

In a statement issued to CBC News, a Department for Transport spokesperson did not say why Canadians are not exempt.

“We are taking a phased approach to restarting international travel while protecting public health,” the statement says. “We want to welcome all international visitors back to the U.K. and are working to extend our approach to vaccinated passengers from important markets and holiday destinations.”

A spokesperson for the British High Commission in Ottawa issued a statement to CBC News but did not explain why Canadians were not exempt.

“Ensuring safe and open travel is a priority and we are engaging with international partners on certification to ensure travel for vaccinated people is unhindered in the future,” says the statement.

Countries that received hundreds of thousands of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the UK itself were left wondering why their vaccination programs weren’t good enough in the eyes of the British government. That’s leading to concerns that the rules could exacerbate already worrying vaccine hesitancy in Africa as some question whether the doses available there don’t measure up.

The vast majority of Indians have been vaccinated with the Indian-made AstraZeneca produced by Serum Institute of India. Others have received COVAXIN, a vaccine produced by an Indian company that is not used in Britain.

India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, said last week that it will resume exports and donations of surplus coronavirus vaccines in October after a months-long freeze because of the massive surge in domestic infections.