Still, the rules have sparked anger from many nations in the
developing world, particularly India, which have been excluded from the list of
countries whose vaccination programs are accepted by U.K. authorities. The New
Delhi government on Friday said British citizens traveling in India would have
to undergo COVID-19 tests and 10 days of quarantine, similar to the measures
imposed on Indian residents visiting the U.K.
As part of the new regime, Britain eased entry requirements
for fully vaccinated travelers from 18 countries, including Canada, Japan and
the United Arab Emirates. It builds on a pilot phase with U.S. and most
European countries that began over the summer.
The Department for Transport said it would take a “phased
approach” to recognizing vaccines administered by additional countries and
territories.
“The U.K. government is continuing to work with
international partners as we seek to more regularly expand the policy to
further countries and territories,” the department said.
Under the new rules, Britain scrapped its traffic light
system for international travel, which applied different rules to travelers
from countries in three different categories of COVID-19 risk. Now there are
just two categories: a “red list,” which bars most non-essential travel, and
the rest of the world.
But travelers from non-red list countries aren’t all treated
equally.
Those who have been fully vaccinated with one of four
authorized vaccines and have a certificate from a recognized public health
agency are now allowed to enter the U.K. without a negative pre-departure COVID-19
test and without being required to quarantine on arrival.
But travelers coming from countries whose vaccination
programs aren’t recognized by U.K. authorities will still be required to show a
pre-departure test and quarantine for 10 days.
Most countries in Africa and South America, as well as major
Asian nations such as China, India and Vietnam, don’t have vaccination programs
that are authorized by the U.K. -AP