Australia today said it would recognise India's indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, for establishing the vaccination status of a person travelling to the country.

The move will have significant impacts for the return of international students and travel of skilled and unskilled workers to Australia, the Australian government said in a statement.

"Today, the TGA (the government of Australia) 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," according to the statement posted on its website.

This recognition is for travellers aged 12 and over who have been vaccinated with Covaxin and 18 to 60 year olds who have been vaccinated with BBIBP-CorV, it said, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The Australian government in recent weeks obtained "additional information demonstrating these vaccines (Covaxin and BBIBP-CorV) 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.

The supporting information has been provided to the Australian government from the vaccine sponsor and/or the World Health Organization, it said.

The recognition of Covaxin and BBIBP-CorV, along with the previously announced recognition of Coronavac (manufactured by Sinovac, China) and Covishield (manufactured by AstraZeneca, India), means many citizens of China and India as well as other countries in the region where these vaccines have been widely deployed will now be considered "fully vaccinated" on entry to Australia, according to the statement.

Australia's approval for Covaxin came even as it awaits WHO recognition for the jab.