An expanded range of vaccines will be accepted by the UK to enable more fully jabbed travellers to enter the country, the government has confirmed.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “In practice, this means that Sinovac, Sinopharm Beijing and Covaxin will be added to our list of approved vaccines for inbound travel, benefitting more fully vaccinated people from countries around the world.”
These are in addition to the existing vaccines the UK recognises at the border – Oxford/AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer BioNTech and Janssen (Johnson and Johnson).
The announcement came in a Department for Transport update in a written statement to Parliament on developments on international travel.
The WHO emergency use list process includes a review of quality, safety and efficacy data performed by WHO experts.
Many countries including the US, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Iceland are already recognising the WHO emergency use list vaccines.
Shapps added: “As such, from 4am on 22 November, travellers who have proof of vaccination with a full course of these approved vaccines will be treated the same as those fully vaccinated in the UK, and so will not have to self-isolate on arrival or take a pre-departure test, and only need to take a lateral flow device test post-arrival with confirmatory PCR if positive.
“This will benefit passengers with proof of vaccination from the over 135 countries and territories in scope of the policy.”
The move follows the announcement on Monday that all under-18s coming to England from non-red list countries will be treated as fully vaccinated at the border and will be exempt from self-isolation requirements on arrival, day 8 testing and pre-departure testing, also from November 22
Shapps said: “Whilst public health is a devolved matter, the government works closely with the devolved administrations on any changes to international travel and aims to ensure a whole UK approach.
“The government continues to keep our measures under review and will not hesitate to act if we perceive a risk to public health.”