Students in limbo over new UK jab rules

Students in limbo over new UK jab rules

Preeti.Biswas@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:22.09.2021

The new United Kingdom international travel rules, which do not recognise Indians who have got both shots of Covid-19 vaccine as ‘fully vaccinated’ has come as a big blow to the students.

On September 17, the UK had announced new rules for international travel to replace the current system of red, amber and green. As per the new rules, the UK government only considers fully vaccinated to be those who have been vaccinated under an approved vaccination programme in the UK, Europe or the US, or who were vaccinated in 17 other countries, including Australia, Israel, Japan and Singapore. Thus, even fully-vaccinated Indians have to undergo a 10-day quarantine and Covid-19 test predeparture and on day 2 and day 8 on arrival in the UK.

Terming it as a biased rule, many local students admit that they are in a limbo over the rule imposed by the UK government. “It is extremely demeaning to know that while vaccinated students from other countries are freely moving around and engaging in various induction programmes, Indian students have to undergo a 10-day quarantine period. There is no clarity if we would be asked to re-vaccinate ourselves or if we’d be allowed to visit various public places even after our quarantine period concludes,” said Anita V (name changed), a master’s student at University College, London.

Many others are worried over the accommodation and Covid-19 test costs. “I have to spend almost ₹1.10 lakh towards accommodation for 10 days. Each test costs almost ₹14,000 and has to be taken twice during the 10-day period. All this is an additional cost,” said a master’s student of University of Westminster.

Experts are hopeful that the governments of both countries will discuss this soon. “It is disappointing that as of now, people vaccinated in India are being tagged under the ‘unvaccinated’ category. So, essentially it means a status quo for Indian students as even now, they have to quarantine at home in the UK or at the university campus for 10 days. But, the students can still travel without any restrictions, which is a welcome development,” said Piyush Kumar, regional director (South Asia), IDP Education, an overseas education consultancy.

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