International travellers who have had two doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine will be permitted to enter Australia now that the Therapeutic Goods Administration has recognised it as a Covid-19 vaccine.

The TGA announced on 17.02.2022 that the two-dose course of the Gamaleya Institute vaccine had been officially identified as a suitable vaccination for international travel.

Under current international border restrictions, all non-citizens must be fully inoculated with a recognised vaccine in order to enter.

In a statement, the TGA said it had obtained additional information that showed the Sputnik V provided protection against the virus and potentially reduced the likelihood of transmission or severe illness.

That information was based on published studies the Russian government provided to Australia’s medicine and therapeutic regulatory agency.

“The data indicated that two doses of the Sputnik V (Gamaleya Institute) showed an average efficacy against symptomatic infection of 89 per cent and against hospitalisation or death of 98-100 per cent,” the statement read.

“The recognition of Sputnik will expand options for the return of international students, travel of skilled and unskilled workers to Australia, and travel by business people and elite sports people to our country.

“Real-world studies assessing the effectiveness of a range of vaccines against Omicron are currently underway in many countries.”

Late last year, the TGA recognised two Chinese and two Indian-manufactured vaccines.