Hunt rules out speeding up vaccine approval - NEWS.com.au

Vaccination approvals will not be rushed despite the growing Sydney COVID-19 cluster, the Health Minister says.

The government has said the vaccine is on track for a March rollout but, with 30 new community transmission cases reported on Sydney’s northern beaches on Sunday, it has resisted calls to speed up the process.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said that as vaccines often took a decade to develop, it was vital the jab underwent a “thorough assessment”.

“The one thing that we are absolutely certain about is making sure that our vaccination program is safe,” he told the ABC.

“We are 100 per cent committed to a full, thorough, but rapid assessment and that’s expected during the course of the next six weeks.”

The UK and US have both issued emergency authorisation for the Pfizer vaccine as case numbers spiral out of control.

The UK recorded more than 27,000 cases on Saturday, while the US reported more than 193,000.

The UK has plunged its southeast, including London, into its highest level of restrictions as the country grapples with a new, highly infections COVID-19 strand.

Mr Hunt said monitoring overseas rollouts would provide “powerful learnings” for Australia, but rejected calls to expedite approval because of the Sydney cluster.

“In the UK and the US, they have respectively hundreds and thousands of daily deaths,” he said.

“It means that the assessment process has not been completed, but given the scale of human tragedy and the agony they’re facing on a daily basis, they have done that.”

Mr Hunt conceded it was “almost certain” there would be additional cases on Monday, but said the “immensely strong” response of Sydneysiders and governments was cause for optimism.

“We know how to do this as a country, we know how to flatten this curve. We have done it before,” he said.

“We have always said that there would be additional cases, additional breakouts during the course of the summer and right throughout most of 2021, but we can do this.”

Mr Hunt has confirmed the vaccine would be free but not obligatory. The government has urged all Australians to receive the jab once it is approved.

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2020-12-20 21:30:06Z
CBMikAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9saWZlc3R5bGUvaGVhbHRoL2hlYWx0aC1wcm9ibGVtcy9odW50LXJ1bGVzLW91dC1zcGVlZGluZy11cC12YWNjaW5lLWFwcHJvdmFsL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvN2Q3NjAxN2YyYjdkZmNiYzE0NTQ1N2RlYjRlMjRkNmXSAZABaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvbGlmZXN0eWxlL2hlYWx0aC9oZWFsdGgtcHJvYmxlbXMvaHVudC1ydWxlcy1vdXQtc3BlZWRpbmctdXAtdmFjY2luZS1hcHByb3ZhbC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzdkNzYwMTdmMmI3ZGZjYmMxNDU0NTdkZWI0ZTI0ZDZl

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