COVID-19: Good news for Indians as Australia recognises Covaxin

Australia`s Therapeutic Goods Administration said that this will have significant impacts on the return of international students, and the travel of skilled and unskilled workers to Australia.

New Delhi: Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on Monday (November 1, 2021) recognised Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, a move that is going to benefit Indians travelling to the island country. Along with Covaxin, Australia determined that BBIBP-CorV, manufactured by China's Sinopharm, would be recognised for the purpose of establishing a traveller's vaccination status. 

"This recognition is for travellers aged 12 and over who have been vaccinated with Covaxin, and those 18 to 60 who have been vaccinated with BBIBP-CorV," TGA said in a statement.

"In recent weeks, the TGA has obtained additional information 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," the statement added.

Recognition of these vaccines means many citizens from India and China, as well as other countries where these vaccines have been widely deployed, will now be considered fully vaccinated on entry, the Australian authority stated. 

This will have significant impacts on the return of international students, and the travel of skilled and unskilled workers to Australia. 

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is likely to reach a decision on possible emergency use listing for Covaxin at a November 3 meeting. This is to be noted that the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech is awaiting a WHO nod since it submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) to the global health body in April this year.