Until Asian Voice went to press on Tuesday evening, those who took a single or double dose of Covishield were considered “unvaccinated” by the UK government. However, after serious backlash against Britain and increasing pressure on officials, on Wednesday morning, the UK released an updated travel advisory stating: "Formulations of the four listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Modern Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines." Under the new guidelines, people travelling from India who were vaccinated with Covishield would still have to quarantine as the UK does not recognise the CoWIN certificate.
In media interactions, Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India said, "We’re clear Covishield is not a problem. The UK is open to travel and we’re already seeing a lot of people going from India to the UK, be it tourists, business people or students. Over 62,500 student visas have been issued in the year ending June 2021, which is an increase of almost 30% as compared to the previous year. We want to make the process of travelling as easy as possible. We've been having detailed technical discussions regarding certification, with the builders of CoWIN app and NHS app, about both apps. They’re happening at a rapid pace, to ensure that both countries mutually recognise the vaccine certificates issued by each other."
The Serum Institute of India produced Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine, whose Indian version is known as Covishield started trending on social media on Monday. The trend started with the scrapping of an amber list, which India is currently part of, increasing pressure on the UK Government to review its Covid-19 vaccine protocol for travellers arriving from India. The UK does not recognise Covishield as a valid vaccine despite the WHO’s approval. Passengers arriving from India are required to be quarantined for 10 days in the UK and take expensive PCR tests. The cost of these tests sometimes ranges from £50 to as high as four times the minimum value.
The UK government had recently announced that from October for travellers coming in from 17 additional countries with eligible vaccines, including Australia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia will fall under the UK is List of recognized jobs of Oxford AstraZeneca, Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines. The UK Government’s decision has majorly impacted Indian students coming to the UK, who are the second-largest contributors of the annual revenue of the UK economy, which is about £28.8 billion. Indian media outlets have termed this as ‘vaccine racism’.
The UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care reviews this list fortnightly, and it maintains that the Indian made a version of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is so far approved by the UK is medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and branded as Vaxzeveria, and therefore only one is currently eligible.
While the UK and India boast of Trade Agreement and the Living Bridge at molecular levels to strengthen the relations of the two nations, the approval of Covishield but with a 10-day mandatory quarantine for Indians arriving in the UK remains a point of alleged racist abuse that Indians continue to face.
Asian Voice reached out to senior members of the community and parliamentarians to comment on this ongoing alleged vaccine racism against the Covishield vaccine.
Government must play its part
In response to the alleged ‘vaccine racism’, Virendra Sharma MP told Asian Voice, “In August I wrote to the UK Government calling on them to urgently approve the Covishield vaccine. This vaccine, designed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, has now been recognised and approved by the vast majority of our neighbours in Europe. Approval of this highly effective and safe vaccine would be an important step in reopening international travel and would help reconnect the millions who have relatives living in India with their families. The UK currently recognises the SII produced AstraZeneca vaccine, Vaxzevria. However, Covishield is inexplicably not yet accepted by the UK. The Government must play its part and help families to reunite after such a prolonged and painful separation by urgently approving the highly effective Covishield vaccine.”
At the inaugural session of the Confederation of Indian Industry annual summit last week, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Gaitri Issar Kumar also flagged this issue. Indian Parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor cancelled his planned visit to the UK in retaliation to these offensive rules.
While Indians continue to express their agony towards the disapproval, the new UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss met Dr Jaishanker at the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss the progress of Roadmap 2030. Jaishankar appreciated her contribution on the trade side and exchanged views on Afghanistan and the Indo Pacific development. He also urged her to resolve the quarantine issue in mutual interest.
Founder and Chairperson of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK, Sanam Arora tweeted: “I have been saying for months & have said so again - for 2 countries that have elevated their status to Enhanced Trade Partnership & are now working towards a Free Trade Agreement, it is utterly bizarre that we have not authorized #covishield already. UK is NOT racist towards Indians so I still don't think that this is about racism BUT the continued delay is now perpetuating this feeling at large in India & is harmful to the bilateral relationship. "Slow bureaucracy", "paperwork" is NOT acceptable responses for what is effectively the same drug!”
Anirban Mukhopadhyay, Heritage Bengal Global Director said, “ I am astounded by this decision of the British Government and it actually goes against science! It also undermines a friendly government and a strong ally of Britain that India is, and who approved the vaccine for their own people - the same goes with other countries also. Puts up two questions - were these governments reckless in approving the vaccines for use- if yes, is there enough evidence to back the claim up? Or and possibly more damaging for Britain in the short run- is the decision influenced more by commercial reasons than medical or scientific.”
We cannot have dual standards
Reacting to the resentment and concerns among Indians travelling to the UK, Lord Navnit Dholakia said, “I am surprised that UK has not accepted the validity of people of India who have been vaccinated with Covishield vaccine which in composition, is similar to Astra Zeneca which is used in the UK. THERE MUST BE A CLEAR EXPLANATION OF WHY THIS IS SO. I shall contact my Minister in the Lords for an explanation. We cannot have dual standards towards Covid based on the origin of these vaccines. The Government should stop this discriminatory approach if it could not deliver a scientific response.”
Not ‘vaccine racism’?
Speaking to the newsweekly, Alpesh Patel OBE shared a different perspective. He said, “My worry is not “vaccine racism” but a reasonable interpretation of data may be overlooked by some junior literalist box ticker. The US considers the UK AstraZeneca vaccine people unvaccinated. That’s a similar problem. Whilst there are in other areas evidence of prejudice that things white commonwealth being best, we must follow the data and facts and nothing I’ve seen suggests this is a rational decision.”
If Indian standards are so poor then, why make AstraZeneca in India?
Supporting the Indian citizens, Lord Rami Ranger CBE said, “This is unacceptable by the British Health Authorities to downgrade Indian produced Covishield vaccine. The British should have congratulated India for its contribution to fighting the Covid pandemic. The statement will send the wrong message to the world about the effectiveness of the Indian vaccination which is not only being used in India but also exported to many countries without any issue and is saving lives. This irresponsible statement will damage the lives of millions of people around the world.
“The Government of India must insist on having the British findings verified which have prompted the British authorities to issue this ridiculous statement. India’s reaction should be robust and must take the matter to the World Health Organisation for independent assessment.
“If Indian standards are so poor then, why make AstraZeneca in India? Once again India’s success in fighting the pandemic has been ignored by making an irresponsible statement about the effectiveness of its vaccine. Britain too stands to lose millions of pounds in lost revenue from the tourists from India. Finally, Indians will still be able to visit the UK by undergoing tests and by staying in a quarantine.”
Indian companies’ contribution to the UK economy
New research published by Grant Thornton UK LLP in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry in April 2021, analyses the data of UK-incorporated limited companies that are either owned or controlled by Indian interests. This year’s research finds that there are 850 Indian companies operating in the UK, up from 842 in the 2020 report. These companies recorded £50.8billion total turnover, up from £41.2billion in 2020 and employed 116,046 people, an increase from 110,793 in 2020. They paid £459.2million in corporation tax, down from £461.8million in 2020 and 47% have at least one woman on their board, compared with 20% in 2020.
"Tracker analyses fastest-growing Indian companies in the UK The report also provides a Tracker of the fastest-growing Indian-owned companies in the UK, measured by those with a turnover of more than £5 million, year-on-year revenue growth of at least 10% and a minimum two-year track record in the UK. This year, 49 companies met the qualifying criteria for appearing in the Tracker, achieving an average revenue growth rate of 40%," the report said.
For the eighth year in a row, technology and telecoms companies dominate the Tracker, accounting for 20 of the 49 companies included. Birlasoft Solutions tops the list as the fastest-growing company this year, recording 158% revenue growth. Meanwhile, Diligenta (owned ultimately by Tata Sons) was the largest company listed, with revenue of £388million and an impressive growth rate of 62%.
While technology and telecoms continue to dominate, the proportion of pharmaceuticals and chemicals companies featuring in the Tracker increased significantly this year, up to 27% of the total from 15% in the 2020 report. London remains the preferred location for the fastest-growing companies.
Over half (53%) of the fastest-growing Indian companies in this year’s report are located in London, confirming the capital as their continued preferred location. However, the South is found to be growing in popularity, with the proportion based in this region up by almost half to just over 16%, from 11% last year.
Anuj Chande, Head of South Asia Business Group, Grant Thornton UK LLP, said that this research finds that the number of Indian companies operating in the UK has increased and that many continue to grow at a rapid rate, with some recording triple-digit growth.
“Brexit marks a significant moment for the UK-India relationship. With a UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement now reached, the UK is free to begin developing its new post-Brexit identity as a ‘Global Britain’ and to strengthen links with major economies beyond Europe. India looks to be one of the first, with the Prime Minister’s postponed visit to India – set to have been his first international visit outside of Europe post-Brexit - a clear indication of the significance of the relationship, with both parties confirming that the conversation will continue online for now.
“As the UK government looks to supercharge the economic partnership to support growth, jobs and prosperity, and India continues its journey to becoming one of the world’s largest economies, the ‘living bridge’ between the two countries, formed by more than 1.5 million Indian diaspora living in the UK, will be more important than ever. India is also likely to benefit from the major modifications made to the UK’s immigration policy, with the new point-based system for visas for skilled workers likely to benefit India significantly due to the creation of a more level playing field," Chande said.
