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More vaccines used overseas but not in Australia have been formally recognised by the national medical regulator, paving the way for international visitors in the coming months.
Key points:
- Only people who have had two doses of a TGA-approved or recognised vaccine can travel quarantine-free to Australia
- The TGA has now officially recognised two more vaccines from China and India
- That move paves the way for international students to be able to come back to Australia in future
Before now, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) had recommended that only the vaccines approved for use in Australia plus Covishield from India and Sinovac from China be recognised for the purposes of travel and other restrictions.
It has now added two more to the list — Covaxin, manufactured in India and Sinopharm, which is made in China.
"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," the TGA said in a statement.
"Importantly, recognition of Covaxin ... along with the previously announced recognition of Coronavac (manufactured by Sinovac, China) and Covishield (manufactured by AstraZeneca, India), means many citizens of China and India, as well as other countries in our region where these vaccines have been widely deployed, will now be considered fully vaccinated on entry to Australia."
The decision will help facilitate the return of international students who have received different vaccines to the ones widely used in Australia.
"This will have significant impacts for the return of international students, and travel of skilled and unskilled workers to Australia," the TGA said.
Four vaccines have been approved by the TGA — Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca (now known as Vaxzevria) and Johnson and Johnson.
The TGA has previously said it did not have enough evidence to recommend Russia's Sputnik or China's CanSino vaccines also be recognised in Australia.
It had also held off recognising Sinopharm — which has been administered to millions of people worldwide — because of not enough data on its protection against severe infection and the rate of hospital admissions from people vaccinated with it.
The regulator was similarly waiting for more information on Covaxin — which has been administered to millions of people in India — although Covishield makes up the bulk of the country's vaccinations.
"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 TGA said.
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