Indian students and universities have warmly welcomed the news that Indian students living in Australia will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when the rollout begins during February.

Greg Hunt, Health Minister, Australia made clear international students were an important part of the country’s vaccination strategy which aims to give as many people as possible access to the vaccine. “We need to make sure that everybody who’s on Australian soil is safe, and everybody who’s on Australian soil has access to protection. That means the government will provide COVID-19 vaccinations free to all visa holders in Australia.”

The announcement follows confirmation by the UK government that international students will be eligible for its own vaccine rollout.

Commenting on the announcement, Director of leading pathway provider Study Group Australia and a strong sector advocate for a coordinated welcome for international students, Alex Chevrolle said, “This is excellent news for Indian and all of the international students in our study centres across Australia and for the 520,000 international student visa holders who have been living and studying in Australia throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Australia has secured 150 million doses of various vaccines, with the roll out commencing in coming weeks with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, subject to final approval by the country’s Therapeutic Goods Administration. The country also has agreements to take the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Novavax and COVAX Facility vaccines subject to completion of successful clinical trials and approval.

The Australian government concluded, “We look forward to welcoming international students in a COVIDSafe way when it is safe to do so. A range of factors including vaccination status will be considered for international arrivals to ensure protection of international students and the Australian community.”