UK continues its refusal to recognise vaccines administered in Thailand

[webfact]

Image: Reuters, file photo

 

by Jonathan Fairfield

 

The UK’s current travel rules regarding COVID-19 and the ongoing refusal to recognise vaccines administered in Thailand is a significant blow to British expats wishing to return to their home country.

 

Travel between Thailand and the UK is affected by two issues:

1. Thailand being on the UK’s ‘red list’

2. The UK govt’s refusal to recognise vaccines administered in Thailand

 

The issues remain despite the UK government earlier this month announcing major changes to the country’s international travel and health rules related to COVID-19.

 

On Sept 17, 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.

 

At the same time, the UK has also confirmed it will start recognising people who have received so-called ‘mix and match’ vaccines as being fully vaccinated.

 

However, none of the above applies to people who have been vaccinated in Thailand.

 

Thailand remains on the UK’s red list, meaning people travelling to the UK are forced to enter mandatory quarantine for 10 days.

 

The cost to quarantine in a dedicated facility in the UK is in the region of £2,000 per person.

 

In addition, the UK still does not consider people who have been vaccinated in Thailand, even if they have received two doses of the same vaccine, as being “fully vaccinated”.

 

The rules currently being implemented by the UK government are a severe blow to British expats in Thailand who have spent the best part of 18 months separated from their friends and families in the UK because of the pandemic.

 

Several ASEAN NOW readers have highlighted the issue, with many failing to see the justification for the UK government implementing such a policy, especially to people who have received two doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine. 

 

“It is like the British government is punishing me for being an expat in Thailand”, a reader told ASEAN NOW.

“I have received two doses of AstraZeneca in Bangkok, which means I am fully vaccinated.

 

“But they (the UK govt) still won’t let me visit without going into quarantine.

 

“There is no rhyme nor reason to this policy”, they added.

 

The issue doesn’t only affect British expats in Thailand. The UK does not recognise vaccines administered in close to 100 countries, mainly those located in south Asia, Africa and Latin America.

 

Furthermore, the fact Thailand remains on the UK’s ‘red list’ all but rules out Thailand as a destination for tourists from the UK.

 

The UK is on Thailand’s list of countries approved for its ‘Sandbox’ program.

 

But under the UK government’s rules, even if a British tourist is fully vaccinated, they would still be required to enter mandatory quarantine for 10 days upon their return to the UK from Thailand. 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2021-09-24

 

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[Bkk Brian]

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

At the same time, the UK has also confirmed it will start recognising people who have received so-called ‘mix and match’ vaccines as being fully vaccinated.

Although obviously not Sinovac as one of the combinations

[keith101]

It may  have a lot to do with Thailand's continuing use of Chinas Sinovac and Sino pharm vaccines which i can fully understand .

[RafPinto]

The guy on the photo would have a good career in a massage shop.

[Cake Monster]

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

In addition, the UK still does not consider people who have been vaccinated in Thailand, even if they have received two doses of the same vaccine, as being “fully vaccinated”.

 

It would appear as if the UK has some severe reservations over the actual Integrity, and provenance of the Vaccines administered in Thailand.

 

[Exploring Thailand]

If they're going to impede vaccinated British citizens' ability to return to the UK, then it's incumbent upon them to explain exactly why they're doing so.

 

My guess is that they're most worried about the lack of testing. They're concerned that if a new virus appears, it won't be picked up. But we shouldn't have to guess. They should tell us the reason (and also tell the Thai government). 

 

It would be good to see @British Consular Team active in this thread, or addressing the issue elsewhere. 

[rbkk]

Perhaps they should lower the price of the Thailand Yellow Vaccine Passport to reflect it's current value and worth. 50 baht nows seems overpriced!

[medina21]

The UK government needs to explain why Astra Zeneca in Thailand is not the same as Astra Zeneca in the UK. It's time for the Ambassador to demand an explanation and for the government to provide one.

[smedly]

while Thailand remains on the UK red list it doesn't matter if vaccinated or not, if Thailand was not on the UK's red list then I am not sure that they wouldn't recognise AZ or Pfizer 

 

Overall it would appear that the UK doesn't think Thailands covid efforts meet their expectations - not really any surprise is it

[worrab]

5 minutes ago, medina21 said:

The UK government needs to explain why Astra Zeneca in Thailand is not the same as Astra Zeneca in the UK. It's time for the Ambassador to demand an explanation and for the government to provide one.

More to the point would be why will they not accept Pfizer which I have been vaccinated with?? Or Moderna which I was going to have until it was delayed??

[rbkk]

3 minutes ago, Exploring Thailand said:

They should tell us the reason (and also tell the Thai government). 

 

It would be good to see @British Consular Team active in this thread, or addressing the issue elsewhere. 

Absolutely. Problem is it's a holiday. They don't work or respond on holidays or weekends. There is a track record with that.

They have stated that those vaccinated in Thailand also are not allowed to get a NHS vaccine passport as well.

[Johnny Mac]

So all the smug ones who thought they  would be in a better position with say 2 pzifers or 2 moderna's are not. The UK doesn't take Thailand seriously as a nation (unless they want some rice) so we're all in the same boat as far as any expat wanting to go to the UK. Suck on that.

[Saltire]

Yet another reason for the UK to have followed the French governments initative and provide both vaccine and innoculations for UK citizens. Maybe we'd have less of this BS to put up with.

 

[smedly]

26 minutes ago, webfact said:

The UK is on Thailand’s list of countries approved for its ‘Sandbox’ program.

which in fact is marginally below the UK red list rules and quite a distance from the UK's green list rules

[ben2talk]

18 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Although obviously not Sinovac as one of the combinations

The point really is that AZ, Pfizer and Moderna are approved - but if they're administered in Thailand they aren't being accepted.

 

Frankly ridiculous... but for a country that still insists that you arrange to have a bank statement or mobile phone bill delivered to your home address by post as part of your verification (why - because your current passport isn't good enough?) before you can get a new passport it's hardly surprising.

 

[Tropicalevo]

 

18 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

It would appear as if the UK has some severe reservations over the actual Integrity, and provenance of the Vaccines administered in Thailand.

 

And for good reason. Thailand - land of fake watches, handbags and......

Seriously, the AZ manufactured in Thailand is not the same as the AZ manufactured in the UK. Different components.

Then we have Happy Larry playing with the number of doses per bottle as well as injecting the stuff in 'other' places.

Lots of reasons to be concerned.

[ezzra]

Why is this? even with Pfizer and AZ they have an issues? why, what do they know that we don't about the vaccinations Thailand is giving to their people?...

[James105]

So if anyone did make the effort to get back into the UK either direct and with quarantine, or via another European country that does recognise the jabs, then in order to avoid this hassle in future they would have to receive another 2 jabs in the UK to be recognised as vaccinated.    Did any pharma companies trial 4 Pfizer jabs or 2 Pfizer + 2 AZ to see if this is safe or did the possibility of countries acting idiotically and forcing people into this position not feature in any of the vaccine trials?   

[Tropicalevo]

There is a government online petition that you can all sign.

 

Not sure if the link is allowed - just in case it is

 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/594456

[hotandsticky]

23 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

It would appear as if the UK has some severe reservations over the actual Integrity, and provenance of the Vaccines administered in Thailand.

 

THAILAND has severe reservations as well........found this on an Agoda website for a Thai hotel:_

 

 

[smedly]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

The issue doesn’t only affect British expats in Thailand. The UK does not recognise vaccines administered in close to 100 countries, mainly those located in south Asia, Africa and Latin America.

I think this article is a bit deceptive, it is trying to blame the vaccine for Thailand being on the UK red list when in fact that is not actually true, someone vaccinated in to UK returning to the UK from Thailand is required to quarantine also - the vaccine has nothing to do with it

 

If Thailand was removed from the UK red list then they may in fact recognise AZ and Pfizer administered in Thailand but possibly not and of the Chinese vaccines 

[rbkk]

1 minute ago, ezzra said:

what do they know that we don't about the vaccinations Thailand is giving to their people?...

Thailand is giving to British Nationals (and others) as well.

[Cake Monster]

3 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

And for good reason. Thailand - land of fake watches, handbags and......

Seriously, the AZ manufactured in Thailand is not the same as the AZ manufactured in the UK. Different components.

Then we have Happy Larry playing with the number of doses per bottle as well as injecting the stuff in 'other' places.

Lots of reasons to be concerned.

I am not so sure that the AZ Vaccine manufactured in Thailand is any different that that manufactured in the UK.

But for sure all the strange games being played with the vaccines has to have some bearing upon the UK,s reasoning.

 

[smedly]

19 minutes ago, Exploring Thailand said:

If they're going to impede vaccinated British citizens' ability to return to the UK, then it's incumbent upon them to explain exactly why they're doing so.

 

My guess is that they're most worried about the lack of testing. They're concerned that if a new virus appears, it won't be picked up. But we shouldn't have to guess. They should tell us the reason (and also tell the Thai government). 

 

It would be good to see @British Consular Team active in this thread, or addressing the issue elsewhere. 

this article is claiming it is the vaccines - that is in fact not true, the UK considers many factors in their assessment 

 

This article is a pile of nonsense 

[ThailandRyan]

Wonder why the UK is being such a Richard on this. It seems Canada is ok with the AZ Vaccine from elsewhere.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ask-covid-astrazeneca-genx-side-effect-1.6003923

 

There are two different brands of the AstraZeneca shots for COVID-19 available in Canada: The AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, manufactured in the United States and elsewhere, and COVISHIELD, manufactured by Serum Institute of India. You don't need to worry about mixing them. They are interchangeable.

 

"Same recipe, same molecule, just different factories," said Dr. Don Sheppard, a medical microbiologist and director and founder of the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity in Montreal in a recent CBC News interview.

 

"Health Canada has evaluated the manufacturing process by both factories and said that they're identical." 

[smedly]

15 minutes ago, worrab said:

More to the point would be why will they not accept Pfizer which I have been vaccinated with?? Or Moderna which I was going to have until it was delayed??

who says they won't ................................................ this article headline ??????????

 

who wrote the article

[hotandsticky]

6 hours ago, James105 said:

So if anyone did make the effort to get back into the UK either direct and with quarantine, or via another European country that does recognise the jabs, then in order to avoid this hassle in future they would have to receive another 2 jabs in the UK to be recognised as vaccinated.    Did any pharma companies trial 4 Pfizer jabs or 2 Pfizer + 2 AZ to see if this is safe or did the possibility of countries acting idiotically and forcing people into this position not feature in any of the vaccine trials?   

 

 

Why bother!

 

The UK scrapped plans for a vaccination certificate. 

 

2 x AZ are recognised in the UK if administered in the UK/EU/USA

 

 

UK residents arriving back in the UK who aren't fully vaccinated must take a pre-departure test, quarantine for 10 days and take a PCR test on day two and day eight of quarantine. If these travelers are arriving in England, they can end their quarantine early via the Test to Release scheme. 

 

Quarantine does not mean quarantine. You can stay 'at home' and you complete a passenger locator form

 

Travel from the rest of the world if you are not fully vaccinated

From 4am Monday 4 October, you must follow these rules if you:

• do not qualify under the fully vaccinated rules
• are partially vaccinated
• are not vaccinated

Before you travel to England you must:

• take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
• book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England
• complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

After you arrive in England you must:

• quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
• take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8

You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england#new-rules

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-test-to-release-for-international-travel

[rbkk]

6 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

There is a government online petition that you can all sign.

 

Not sure if the link is allowed - just in case it is

 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/594456

Need to be British or resident.

"The UK Government should recognise all vaccinations using WHO approved vaccines for travellers arriving from amber list countries, regardless of the country it was administered in. Currently they only recognise NHS administered vaccinations plus ones from the EU and US."

Amber or red being treated the same I guess.

[hotandsticky]

6 hours ago, smedly said:

I think this article is a bit deceptive, it is trying to blame the vaccine for Thailand being on the UK red list when in fact that is not actually true, someone vaccinated in to UK returning to the UK from Thailand is required to quarantine also - the vaccine has nothing to do with it

 

If Thailand was removed from the UK red list then they may in fact recognise AZ and Pfizer administered in Thailand but possibly not and of the Chinese vaccines 

 

Sound theory.

 

 

Unfortunately not:-

 

Travel from the rest of the world if you are fully vaccinated

From 4am Monday 4 October, you will qualify as fully vaccinated if you are vaccinated either:

• under an approved vaccination programme in the UK, Europe, USA or UK vaccine programme overseas
• with a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

[transam]

Perhaps the UK doesn't trust anything from the L-of-S...????