London: The World Health Organisation has called on governments exempting their vaccinated citizens from pandemic restrictions to grant the same allowances to people who have received any WHO-approved jab.

It would mean a country like Australia, which has approved only Pfizer and AstraZeneca for use, would have to recognise China’s two vaccines. The Chinese vaccines have been given to Australians living in multiple countries, but are less effective than the others approved by the WHO.

The WHO has approved AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, Moderna, Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines for emergency use. It said all the vaccines it had approved for use and distribution through its COVAX scheme, of which Australia is a participant, should be recognised to prevent a two-tier system emerging around the fully vaccinated.

“Such moves are already undermining confidence in life-saving vaccines that have already been shown to be safe and effective, affecting uptake of vaccines and potentially putting billions of people at risk,” the Geneva-based UN body said in a statement.

“At a time when the world is trying to resume trade, commerce and travel, this is counter-effective, both in spirit and outcome.

“Any measure that only allows people protected by a subset of WHO-approved vaccines to benefit from the re-opening of travel into and with that region would effectively create a two-tier system, further widening the global vaccine divide and exacerbating the inequities we have already seen in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.”

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A spokeswoman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said that no decisions had been made about which vaccines Australia would recognise.

“However the government will continue to follow the expert health advice and the Therapeutic Goods Administration will continue to oversee the approval, regulation and mutual recognition of vaccinations,” she said.