In a much-needed relief to many Indians, Covaxin has now been recognized by Australia for travellers to enter the nation without the need for quarantine.
The update comes as the country gears up to ease its strict restrictions placed in view of the coronavirus pandemic induced lockdown. The 18-month long border policies are slowly being lifted and millions of Australian citizens are now eligible to travel without requiring any permit or mandatory quarantine.
While Covaxin hasn’t received approval from the World Health Organization (WHO), certain countries have still cleared it for travel. People vaccinated with Covaxin are now considered fully vaccinated in such nations.
Making the announcement, a media release issued by the Australian government said, “Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech, India) and BBIBP-CorV (manufactured by Sinopharm, China) vaccines 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.”
The release added that the development will be beneficial to students, working professionals and others. “This recognition 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. This will have significant impacts on the return of international students, and the travel of skilled and unskilled workers to Australia,” it said.
Additional information received shows Covaxin potent enough to protect the ones who get vaccinated with it and reduce the chance of transmitting covid-19 infection to others, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia’s regulatory authority for therapeutic goods, said. It added that even if a traveller contracts the disease while in Australia, the vaccine will protect against severe infection.
As per its earlier statement, people inoculated with the vaccines given the green signal by the Australian regulatory body, China’s Sinovac and India’s Covishield would be allowed to travel to Australia.
While Covaxin has jumped up to the list of approved vaccines, unvaccinated travellers are still required to undergo mandatory quarantine of 14 days and a negative covid-19 test result report before departing for the country.
Nevertheless, Australia’s earlier rules barred anyone and everyone from entering its land. It permitted only a specific number of citizens and permanent residents, who would still need to fulfil the quarantine requirements. They would have to spend 2 weeks at a hotel at their own expense.
Yet, certain foreign travellers were let go without the need to complete the isolation days- including some Hollywood celebrities- raising several eyebrows.
