(CNN) — News that fully vaccinated travelers from India and many African countries will face mandatory quarantine in the UK, despite a relaxation of the country's inbound travel rules, has caused an outcry and accusations of discrimination.
The UK's revised travel advisory will take effect on October 4 and visitors from its list of "high risk" countries -- including India, more than 20 African countries and most Latin American nations -- will still have to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days despite being fully vaccinated.
According to the new travel guidelines, passengers from the US, EU, and 18 other territories who have received full doses of UK-approved vaccines, including formulations of approved vaccines such as the Indian-made AstraZeneca shot branded Covishield, will not have to quarantine when they arrive in the UK.
No African country was included in the UK's green-listed countries. However, nearly half of 54 countries on the UK's high-risk list, also known as the "red list" -- comprising predominantly developing nations -- are from Africa.
The backlash against the UK's revised travel policy had initially stemmed from the reported exclusion of the Covishield shot from the list of approved coronavirus vaccines.
Covishield is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine maker. The African Union and Africa Centres for Disease Control (ACDC) had described Covishield as the "backbone" of the COVAX initiative, a global vaccine sharing initiative for low- and middle-income countries.
The vaccine was later included in an updated guideline released by UK authorities following a strong reaction from the Indian government and the Africa CDC.
The Africa CDC had questioned why the UK ..
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