England’s Vaccine Travel Rules Draw International Backlash

England’s revised international travel rules have triggered criticism from diplomats, health experts, politicians and travellers over their country-based approach to recognising Covid-19 vaccinations.

Under the system, travellers who had received Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea or a European Union country were treated as fully vaccinated when arriving from an amber-list country. They were consequently exempt from quarantine.

However, people who received the same vaccines in Africa, Latin America, India and other countries were classified as not fully vaccinated and required to quarantine for 10 days after arriving from an amber-list country.

Critics challenge the distinction

Grant Shapps, the UK transport secretary, described the measures as “a new simplified system for international travel” and said their purpose was to make it easier for people to travel.

Critics said the rules appeared to distinguish between vaccinations according to where they were administered rather than the vaccine itself. An unnamed Latin American diplomat called the policy “offensive” in substance, saying people were perplexed and unable to understand why recognised vaccines were treated differently across regions.

“How can a Pfizer or Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccine that is administered [in Latin America] not be sufficient for someone to be allowed in?” the diplomat said, adding: “I simply cannot get my head around it.”

An unnamed West African diplomat described the restrictions as “discriminatory” and warned that rejecting vaccines administered in Africa could contribute to vaccine hesitancy and prolong the pandemic.

Ifeanyi Nsofor also criticised the policy, pointing to the UK’s role as one of the largest funders of the Covax facility. “The UK is one of the largest funders of the Covax facility and now the UK is saying that the same vaccines they have sent will now not be considered,” he said.

André Siqueira, who said he had not seen his four-year-old son in London for a year, questioned the logic of the system. “There is simply no plausible justification as to why they accept vaccines given in certain countries, but not from others,” he said.

Travellers and families affected

The rules raised concerns among families separated from relatives in England and among people hoping to attend the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Maiara Folly said Brazil had fully vaccinated more than 80 million people, but questioned the health basis for excluding vaccinations administered there. “I can’t see any health criteria to justify this,” she said.

Folly also expressed concern that the restrictions could prevent Brazilian academics from attending Cop26. She said she could see no reason for the policy other than what she described as “a racial issue” or “a xenophobia issue,” a characterisation that was her stated view rather than an established finding.

People in Europe who had recovered from Covid-19 and received one dose of a two-dose vaccine were also required under the guidelines described in the report to quarantine when visiting the UK. The rules required both doses of vaccines such as Moderna or Pfizer, even after recent recovery from the virus.

Britain later relaxed its rules to allow quarantine-free travel for people from Europe who had received doses of two different vaccines. Hundreds of thousands of people in Europe had received mixed doses after AstraZeneca use was restricted to older age groups.

Government response

A UK government spokesperson said public health remained the country’s priority and that vaccine certification from all countries had to meet minimum criteria taking account of public health and wider considerations. The government did not specify those wider considerations in the statement described.

The UK also pledged to work with some countries to recognise their vaccine passports. In a joint statement, the UK High Commission in Kenya and Kenya’s Health Ministry said the UK recognised vaccines administered in Kenya and acknowledged significant public concern about vaccine certification.

The statement added that establishing mutual recognition of vaccine passport systems took time, particularly during an unprecedented pandemic.

Prof Helen Rees called the lack of an explanation for the restrictions “unfortunate” and “inexplicable.” She questioned whether other vaccines, such as polio vaccines from Pakistan, would be treated in the same way and said she hoped the UK decision would be reconsidered.