Covid-19: China’s Sinovac shots approved by Australia ahead of border opening

The decision to recognise the Chinese vaccine and AstraZeneca’s product will allow foreign travellers and students to enter the country

The country is starting to unwind its Covid-19 restrictions as vaccination rates across much of the country pass the 80 per cent threshold

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Australia will starting easing its border restrictions. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:20pm, 1 Oct 2021Updated: 8:49pm, 1 Oct 2021

Australia has recognised vaccines made by Sinovac and AstraZeneca, paving the way for overseas travellers and fee-paying foreign students who have received those vaccinations to enter the country.

The nation’s top drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, said the shots, made in China and India respectively, should be “recognised vaccines” for incoming travellers, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.

Australia is starting to unwind some of the world’s most intense pandemic border restrictions as vaccination rates across the country approach as key threshold of 80 per cent.

Friday’s announcement potentially opens the door to thousands of foreign students that have been shut out of Australia during the pandemic. International education is a lucrative source of revenue for the country, worth A$14.6 billion (US$11 billion) to the state of New South Wales alone in 2019.

“Very soon, we’ll be able to open those international borders again,” Morrison told reporters. “This will start happening from next month.”

Recognition of Beijing-based Sinovac’s shot, which has been approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use, contrasts with Britain and New Zealand, which are yet to endorse it.

A number of European countries have said they will accept the vaccine, known as Coronavac, as part of programmes for vaccinated entry. The US indicated similar when it announced plans to open entry to most vaccinated foreigners last week.