Hyderabad: UK's revised vaccine guidelines still burden Indian students

Hyderabad: Even after including AstraZeneca Covishield in its list of accepted vaccine the UK's revised vaccine guidelines reportedly still imposes financial burden on Indian students who registered to study there in 2021.

As per the arrival guidelines of the UK, which will be in effect from October 4, for other country citizens, especially Indians, puts extra financial burden. Despite recognising vaccines, the UK is still having a certificate issue with India, with which fully vaccinated Indians will have to stay in quarantine for 10 days and go for the Covid test twice.

This costs lakhs for Indians, whereas it will be more burden for students. The data disclosed by the British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis shows that, with the increment of 30 per cent, comparatively to the last year, 62,500 student visas have been issued in the year ending June 2021.

When the new rules required fully vaccinated Indians also to be in quarantine for 10 days, it will be a massive money loss for students. As per the reports, it is learnt that it costs Rs 1.1 lakh for a 10-day accommodation in the UK. Apart from these hefty charges, Indians will have to go for a Covid test twice in this period, which cost Rs 14,000 each. Students who had already paid lakhs for university studies and spent thousands on travel expenses, the UK's revised guidelines, which can be termed as biased, are heavily impacting Indian students.

The British high commissioner had revealed that they have been having detailed technical discussion regarding certification with the CoWIN app and the NHS app builders.

When the UK didn't even accept Covishield, India's 'reciprocal actions' comments somehow built pressure on it and made it descend on its travel guidelines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also suggested to the world countries to have a mutual recognition of vaccination certification, adding it would ease the international standards. In view of this students and parents from India are hoping for a positive response from the UK.