Aussie plan for foreign students to exclude those with China jabs

SYDNEY • A pilot programme to allow some international students to return to Australia's most populous state is likely to exclude Chinese nationals due to rules surrounding vaccination status.

The phased plan was approved by the federal government and the first flight carrying some 500 fully vaccinated international students will arrive in New South Wales (NSW) by the end of the year, the state government said.

Students from China who have taken their nation's vaccine are likely to be ineligible to participate, because the shots are not recognised by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration.

"They will need to be double vaccinated with a vaccine that our federal authorities deemed to be adequate and effective, and that is just the way it is," Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.

Those wanting to participate in future need to "find access to a vaccine that is regarded as effective by our authorities".

"We don't want additional risk put into our system," she added.

International education was worth A$14.6 billion (S$14.4 billion) to New South Wales in 2019, the state government said.

Macquarie University, University of Newcastle, University of Sydney, University of New South Wales and University of Technology Sydney are among the universities that will participate in the pilot plan. More than 57,000 students are estimated to be overseas, according to the state government.

Vaccines made by Beijing-based Sinovac and state-owned Sinopharm are among the most used in China, and have efficacy rates ranging from around 50 per cent to 80 per cent in preventing symptomatic Covid-19. A vaccine developed by Sichuan Clover Biopharmaceuticals was found to prevent 79 per cent of Covid-19 cases caused by the Delta strain in late-stage trials.

Sinovac and Sinopharm have provided little conclusive data on the effectiveness of their shots against the Delta variant, which is more infectious than the virus' original strain and appears to have dimmed the protection given by existing vaccines.

Australia is grappling with a third wave of infections from the highly infectious Delta variant that has led to lockdowns in its two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, and the capital, Canberra, affecting nearly half of the country's 25 million people.

More than half of Australia's adult population were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as at yesterday, the authorities said, as they step up inoculations in hopes of easing restrictions while cases linger near daily record levels in Victoria.

Victoria yesterday reported one new death and 733 new infections, its second biggest daily rise in the pandemic, down from the record high of 766 on Thursday. Most cases were detected in Melbourne.

Both NSW and Victorian leaders have pledged more freedom to residents once full vaccinations in people above 16 reach 70 per cent, which is expected next month. So far, 57 per cent have been fully vaccinated in NSW, above the national average of 50.1 per cent. Two million doses were administered in the country in the last seven days.

Daily cases may have stabilised in NSW, the epicentre of the country's worst outbreak, as it reported 1,043 new infections, down from 1,063 on Thursday. "We are seeing pleasing declines... Hopefully we will see numbers decrease in coming days and weeks," state chief health officer Kerry Chant said during a media briefing in Sydney.

But officials flagged that any easing of curbs in NSW would be done "cautiously and moderately" when the state hits its 70 per cent dual-dose target, around Oct 6, to avoid spikes in cases that could overwhelm its health system.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS