"On vaccines, that's a very technical question you have asked me. I got Covishield from India, I've got the two doses. I don't know how many countries would say that Covishield is acceptable or not, but a large portion of the countries have got Covishield," he said at a press conference.

Shahid made the comment responding to a question on whether any anti-COVID-19 vaccine should be recognised.

His comment came in the backdrop of India's reciprocal action on the UK after Britain made it mandatory for Indian travellers to get quarantined despite being inoculated with the two doses of Serum Institute of India (SII)'s Covishield.

It is important to note, Covishield is the Indian version of the Oxford vaccine developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

India's tit-for-tat move

With the UK failing to give recognition to India’s CoWIN vaccination certification, India on Friday decided to slap reciprocal measures on all UK nationals arriving from Britain from Oct 4, including mandatory Covid-19 RT-PCR testing before and after arrival and 10 days quarantine.

From Oct 4, all UK nationals arriving in India from the UK, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undertake the following measures: Pre-departure COVID-19 RT-PCR test within 72 hours before travel; COVID-19 RT-PCR test on arrival at airport; COVID-19 RT-PCR test on Day 8 after arrival.

Besides, all UK nationals arriving from the United Kingdom will have to undergo mandatory quarantine at home or in the destination address for 10 days after arrival in India, the sources added.