The US has decided to allow entry for people who are fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin which is manufactured by Hyderabad-based Indian biotechnology firm Bharat Biotech.
The entry into US will be allowed from November 8 for those who received the Covaxin jabs.
The move follows the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) acknowledging the World Health Organisation (WHO) announcing on Wednesday granting Emergency Use Listing for Covaxin.
(The emergency Use Listing or EUL procedure assesses the suitability of novel health products during public health emergencies.)
The US announcement comes less than one week before the countrylaunches its new travel system, which grants entry to foreign travellers who have received a vaccine that has been approved for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or WHO.
The WHO said the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) convened by it and made up of regulatory experts from around the world determined that Covaxin meets its standards for protection against COVID-19 and that the benefit of the vaccine far outweighs risks and thus can be used.
The new US travel rules will also accept travellers fully vaccinated with vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
On November 1, Australia had also recognised Covaxin and allowed entry of travellers who had received the vaccine. Countries like Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, the State of Palestine, Mauritius and Mongolia have also recognised India's vaccine certificate.
Besides demonstrating 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19, Covaxin has shown 65.2 per cent protection against the new Delta variant of the disease-causing coronavirus.
