The expected rollout of the first coronavirus vaccine in Australia has been brought forward by two weeks to early March.
Key points:
- The Government was originally planning to begin inoculations at the end of March
- Both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines still need to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration
- Australia has secured 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 53.8 million of AstraZeneca
The first jabs will be of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, of which the Government has secured 10 million doses.
The vaccine is already being used overseas by nations which have issued emergency authorisations to start immunisations immediately.
The Federal Government had planned for the drug to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration later this month and begin inoculations in late March.
But a spokesperson for Health Minister Greg Hunt said updated health advice has seen the timeframe for vaccinations brought forward by a fortnight.
"As data and regulatory guidance have been provided we have progressively been able to bring forward our provisional rollout from mid-year to the second quarter, to late March and now early March," they said.
"We will continue to follow the safety and medical advice and will update our plans where new evidence or advice is available."
The spokesperson said the Government's "number one priority is safety" and ensuring public confidence in any and all vaccines rolled out in Australia.
"It is important to recognise that comparable jurisdictions with high success in combating the virus [like] New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are all on similar accelerated but full safety and regulatory approval timeframes for the rollout," they said.
As well as the Pfizer vaccine, Australia has also secured just under 54 million doses of the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, with 50 million doses being produced onshore by CSL in Victoria, which has already started manufacturing doses.
Both vaccines still need to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and will then also undergo batch tests before they are rolled out nationally.
Speaking on Melbourne radio station 3AW on Tuesday the Prime Minister said Australia would not "cut corners" when it came to a vaccine.
"We are moving this as swiftly as it safely can be done, but Australia is not an emergency situation so we don't have to cut corners," Scott Morrison said.
"We don't have to take unnecessary risks.
"I don't think Australians just want us sending out, willy-nilly, vials of vaccines that haven't been tested, which is the normal process that happens with any TGA-approved vaccine."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTAxLTA2L2F1c3RyYWxpYW4tY292aWQtdmFjY2luZS10aW1lbGluZS1icm91Z2h0LWZvcndhcmQtZWFybHktbWFyY2gvMTMwMzU0MTDSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTMwMzU0MTA?oc=5
2021-01-05 22:03:00Z
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