UK approves Covishield vaccine, but Indian travellers still need to quarantine

The United Kingdom has finally approved Covishield in a revised travel advisory. According to the UK government, ‘Formulations of the four listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzeveria and Moderna Takeda’, qualify as approved vaccines.
However this does not mean that Indians will not have to quarantine for ten days. That rule still stays. So even if you are vaccinated with both doses of Covishield, you will have to quarantine for ten days upon arrival in the UK. But why is it so?

According to the UK government, there is an issue with the vaccine certification. The UK only recognises vaccine certificates from specific countries with relevant public health bodies. Unfortunately, India is not in this list.
Indian travellers, despite being in the Amber list, will have to undergo a ten-day quarantine because of this. The vaccine certification issue seems to be the main problem here. India has earlier protested against the disapproval of Covishield vaccines by the UK government.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan had earlier said that the UK’s non-recognition of the Covishield vaccine is discriminatory, and hinted that reciprocal measures might be taken.

We will now have to wait and see whether there is any relief for Indian travellers in the coming days as far as quarantining is concerned.