When law student Xu Jingxian travelled home to China in December last year, she hoped it would not be long before she was back hitting the books in Sydney.
Key points:
- Sinovac and Covishield have been recognised by the TGA, but will not be administered in Australia
- The Chinese- and Indian-made vaccines have been used to inoculate much of the world
- However, while it has WHO approval, the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm is not yet recognised by the TGA
She was able to be fully vaccinated in China and hoped that might make it safe for her to travel, but there was a problem: Australia did not recognise her Sinovac vaccination.
That’s set to change now that Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has recognised China’s Sinovac vaccine — and Covishield, an Indian-made version of AstraZeneca — for incoming international travellers.
Those vaccines are not approved for use in Australia — so people living here will not be offered them — but Sinovac and Covishield will be considered “recognised vaccines” for “incoming international travellers to be regarded as appropriately vaccinated”.
However, some are disappointed that Sinopharm — which is widely used in China and has been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO) — along with India’s Covaxin, have not yet made the cut.
The change in regulations comes as Australia prepares to lift its ban on international travel for states with 80 per cent vaccination some time next month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday.
That will allow fully vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents to quarantine at home for seven days, rather than undertaking hotel quarantine for 14 days, upon their return but will not apply to international students at first.
Nevertheless, the new vaccine recognition was welcomed by international students such as Ms Xu.
“I am very happy about the new policy. Now I think I can at least see the hope of returning to Australia on a student or visitor visa,” she said.
Xu Jingxian is fully vaccinated with Sinovac.(
Supplied
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Denis Li, a Chinese student at Monash University in Melbourne, agreed.
“It’s definitely a good thing,” he said.
” the first step in the process of the border fully opening.”
Mr Li has been stuck overseas doing online lectures for the first year of his two-year Masters of Education.
“The in-person courses have better interactions. It will not feel distant or boring. I still prefer to go to Australia,” he said.
Australia’s university sector has taken a huge a financial hit, with revenues falling $2.2 billion last year, largely because of a drop in international students.
“The Chinese community has a significant contribution to the Australian economy,” Ms Xu said.
“The Australian government will not explicitly say that it wants the Chinese students to return to Australia as soon as possible. It will make some concessions by relaxing the policy on the vaccine.”
Council of International Students Australia president Belle Lim said that, when NSW announced a pilot plan last week, she feared the vaccine requirement would exclude students from China and Nepal.
However, she hoped the TGA’s recognition of Sinovac and Covishield would help change that.
“We think that this is great news for students have been stuck overseas for 18 months,” she said.
“These students have the right to receive the education that they paid for.”
Sinopharm not yet recognised
Sinopharm has been approved for use in 65 countries, but is not yet recognised by the TGA.(
AP: Zhang Yuwei
)
In the TGA’s initial report, it assessed six vaccines “that have been widely deployed in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in national vaccination programs in countries such as China and India, from which Australia normally receives many international arrivals”.
In its advice, the TGA said it had insufficient data to recognise four vaccines at this stage — including China’s Sinopharm and CanSino jabs, India’s Covaxin from Bharat Biotech, and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
“These vaccines could be recognised in the coming weeks or months as more data becomes available,” the TGA said.
Gilbert Li is fully vaccinated with Sinopharm, which is not yet recognised in Australia.(
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)
“he TGA criteria for recognising a vaccine not currently registered in Australia is that it must meet the minimal efficacy and effectiveness levels as those vaccines approved (registered) for use in Australia,” the TGA said in a statement.
Used widely within China, Sinopharm has been administered to millions of people across the country and the globe.
However, the TGA’s advice said it did not have enough data on Sinopharm’s protection against severe infection nor the rate of admissions to hospital.
It said based on the information it assessed, Sinopharm showed an average efficacy of 65 per cent. Earlier reports showed a 79 per cent efficacy.
Meanwhile, Gilbert Li is someone who would like to see Sinopharm recognised here.
Mr Li returned to Sydney in June this year after receiving two doses of Sinopharm in China, however, he was not able to get a vaccine certificate.
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“I was optimistic that, if I got the vaccine in China, I would be able to get an e-certificate in Australia, just like other people who had Pfizer or AstraZeneca,” he said.
“After reading so many negative online stories about Chinese vaccines, I am also worried about its protection.”
He asked his GP about getting a booster dose of Pfizer, but was told that was not recommended at the moment.
As a sales person who works face-to-face with customers, Mr Li said he hoped his vaccination would be recognised and he could show his vaccine certificate for peace of mind.
The TGA added that it expected Covishield and Sinovac to be recognised on the Australian Immunisation Register, so people vaccinated could receive a digital vaccination certificate.
“Work is underway to ensure that recognised vaccines that are not registered in Australia can be acknowledged by the Australian health system,” the TGA said.
Epidemiologists welcome move
Many in India have been vaccinated with Covishield, an Indian-made version of AstraZeneca.(
Reuters: Rupak De Chowdhuri
)
Both China and India have committed to sending millions of doses around the world, in what has variously been called vaccine diplomacy or a soft-power push.
“China and India were countries that really did help distribute vaccines around the world quite quickly in some of those resource-poor countries,” epidemiologist Catherine Bennett said.
“So this will actually impact a lot of countries that have those as their preferred, or dominant, vaccines.
“It does open up a lot more of the world to future travel with Australia.”
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Professor Bennett said that it was important Australia recognised reputable vaccines that could help reunite families, and it was about recognising vaccines for their safety and risks, rather than simply allowing in people with the same vaccine deals as Australia.
She added the TGA was able to look at real-world data and update its advice on recognised vaccines.
“Sinovac, while not quite as effective against symptomatic illness, it’s still very effective against serious illness,” she said.
Infectious diseases physician Sanjaya Senanayake pointed out Covishield was, essentially, AstraZeneca manufactured in India, and that Sinovac would be the first inactivated vaccine for COVID-19 recognised by Australia.
An inactivated vaccine involves killing the virus and using that dead virus as a basis for the vaccine so the body can build an immune response.
Dr Senanayake said a key factor was not just how effective the vaccines were at stopping people from getting COVID-19, “but how effective these vaccines are at stopping us from getting sick, hospitalised and overwhelming the hospital system”.
He said there were more than 100 vaccines at various stages of clinical trials around the world.
“I don’t think we need to be in a rush to recognise vaccines if we haven’t got the data,” he said.
“It’s very reasonable to wait and see and make sure that we have got good enough data when proceeding with this.”
Additional reporting by Xiao Zhu
