Australia, on 1 November, announced that it will be recognising Bharat Biotech's Covaxin COVID-19 Vaccine, 'for the purpose of establishing a traveller's vaccination status'.
Along with Covaxin, China's Sinopharm vaccine has also been added to the list of recognised COVID vaccines for travellers.
What this means is that people who have been vaccinated with either Covaxin or Sinopharm's BBIBP-CorV will now be recognised as fully vaccinated by the Australian Thereputic Goods Adminisration (TGA) on entry into the country.
The announcement comes ahead of Covaxin's impending WHO EUL approval which has seen some hiccups with WHO seeking more information to make their decision.
According to a press release by the Australian Government, the decision has been made on the basis of additional data submitted to them "demonstrating these vaccines provide protection and potentially reduce the likelihood that an incoming traveller would transmit COVID-19 infection to others while in Australia or become acutely unwell due to COVID-19."
Adding these two vaccines to the list, they add is an attempt to ease travel restrictions and movement of international students and workers.
The terms of the recognition are,
It applies to travellers aged 12 and over who have been vaccinated with Covaxin
In the case of Sinopharm's COVID vaccine, it applies to 18 to 60 who have been vaccinated with BBIBP-CorV.
Apart from COVID vaccines that have been approved for use in Australia, the international vaccines that have been previously recognised by Australia's TGA are India's Covishield and China's Sinovac.
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