New qualifying vaccines added, 10 December 2021.

GC 2021/0096 has added Sinovac, Sinopharm Beijing and Covaxin to the list of qualifying vaccinations under reg.5A(2). This is the regulation which creates an exemption to some rules governing entering the Isle of Man for those who have “completed the full course of a qualifying vaccination”.

Given the increased emphasis on booster shots as a response to the Omicron variant, it may be that at some point we will see a redefinition of “a full course of vaccination” to reflect this. The structure of reg.5A does not envisage this being done by GC, and indeed the emphasis on “a qualifying vaccination” may make recognition of combinations of vaccines difficult. If a change was needed, I would expect any formal change to be by a PHR.