Which countries’ vaccines are recognised in the UK?

In mid-September, the UK government announced major changes to the country’s international travel and health rules – including its plans to formally recognise a number of vaccines from overseas countries.

Prior to late July, only UK-administered vaccines were officially recognised.

On 28 July, it was announced that the vaccine status of fully jabbed travellers from the US and European Union would also be recognised from 2 August onwards (provided they had received two doses of the same vaccine).

On 17 September, the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that, from October, it will increase the number of countries from which travellers’ vaccination certification will be recognised.

“From 4 October, England will welcome fully vaccinated travellers from a host of new countries – who will be treated like returning fully vaccinated UK travellers – including 17 countries and territories such as Japan and Singapore, following the success of an existing pilot with the US and Europe,” read a DfT statement.

So which countries are currently recognised, and which are about be added to the list?

Here’s everything you need to know.

Which countries’ vaccines are currently recognised by the UK?

Until 4 October, only fully vaccinated people who have had their course of injections in the UK, the US, and the 27 countries of the European Union are recognised as fully vaccinated when travelling to the UK.

This means travellers from those countries are treated the same as UK citizens, and can avoid quarantine when arriving in the UK from any country not on the red list.

Which countries’ vaccines will be recognised from 4 October?

When the change to the travel rules comes in, those who have had two shots of a vaccine (or one shot of the Janssen vaccine) from the following countries – the final dose of which was administered at least two weeks prior to arrival – will be treated as fully vaccinated in the UK:

For the purposes of vaccinations received abroad, the government is recognising Pfizer BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen (J&J).

Those jabbed with two different doses of these vaccines – for example, a person with one dose of Oxford AstraZeneca and one dose of Moderna – will be regarded as fully vaccinated.

What is the status of people vaccinated in other nations?

They are regarded by the UK as unvaccinated and must follow the rules for such travellers.

The decision by the UK government not to recognise Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna or Janssen jabs administered in India, anywhere in Africa and more than 100 other countries has angered many people who want to travel to Britain.