Tourists fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have been given the green light to enter the United States starting November 8. This comes a day after Covaxin gets emergency use approval from World Health Organisation (WHO).

Talking to ANI over updating the approved travel list for Covaxin, CDC press officer, Scott Pauley said, “CDC’s travel guidance applies to FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines and encompasses any new vaccines that may be added to either of those lists over time.”

The last-minute addition comes less than one week before the US launches 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 new US travel rules will also accept travelers fully vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Wednesday acknowledged the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) granting emergency use listing (EUL) to India’s indigenous vaccine Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech.

The WHO said in a tweet that the Technical Advisory Group, convened by World Health Organisation (WHO), has determined that the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19.

Before Wednesday’s announcement, the CDC had planned to allow travelers vaccinated with Covaxin to enter the U.S. only if they had been participating in a phase three trial of the vaccine.