Australia’s medicines and medical devices regulator on Monday formally recognised India’s Covaxin, a vaccine against the coronavirus as the country’s border was reopened for the first time in nearly 20 months.
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, and AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India.
Australia has already recognised Covishield.
“Today, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) determined that 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,” Australia’s medicines and medical devices regulator TGA said.
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.
Welcoming Canberra’s decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison for the recognition of Covaxin.
“I thank my dear friend @ScottMorrisonMP for Australia’s recognition of India’s COVAXIN. It is an important step forward in the post-COVID partnership between India and Australia,” Modi, currently in Glasgow to attend the COP26 Climate Summit, tweeted.
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.
In addition, with input from the TGA, Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) have determined that those who have received two doses of a TGA-approved or recognised vaccine at least 14 days apart are regarded as fully vaccinated from 7 days after the second dose (with the exception of Janssen vaccine, where they are regarded as fully vaccinated 7 days after the single dose), it said.
This includes homologous (two doses of the same vaccine) and heterologous (two doses of two different TGA-approved or recognised vaccines) schedules, it added.
“Today, the @TGAgovau determined that Covaxin (manufactured by @BharatBiotech,) vaccine would be ‘recognised’ for the purpose of establishing a traveller’s vaccination status,” Australia’s High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell AO said on Twitter.
“Importantly, recognition of #Covaxin, along with the previously announced recognition of #Covishield (manufactured by @AstraZenecaIn), means many citizens, as well as other countries, will now be considered fully vaccinated on entry to Australia,” he said in another tweet.
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, which has developed Covaxin, had submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) to the World Health Organisation on April 19 for the vaccine’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL).
India’s Bharat Biotech has been submitting data on the EUL of Covaxin “regularly and very quickly” to a technical committee which hopes to have a final recommendation to the WHO next week, a top official of the global health agency said on Thursday, stressing that the UN body “trusts” the Indian industry that manufactures high quality vaccines.
The WHO has so far approved Covid-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-SK Bio/Serum Institute of India, Johnson & Johnson-Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm for emergency use.
Meanwhile, Australia’s international borders reopened on Monday, ending nearly 20 months of tough restrictions and sparking emotional scenes at Sydney and Melbourne airports as people reunited with their loved ones.
More than 80 per cent of the adult population in both states is now fully vaccinated, media reports said.
