Australia's rollout of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will begin on Friday, with the first doses to be administered in South Australia.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 300,000 doses of the vaccine which arrived in Sydney on Sunday have now been "batch-tested" and approved for use.
The ABC understands the doses will be delivered to frontline health staff in the regional town of Murray Bridge, east of Adelaide.
AstraZeneca is the second COVID vaccine to be given the green light in Australia, after the Pfizer vaccine.
Mr Morrison said the first overseas-manufactured doses of the jab would be followed by 50 million doses made in Melbourne.
"We took the decision to have the sovereign capability to do that because we did not want to be, over the course of our vaccination program in Australia, overly reliant or dependent on supply chains from somewhere else," the Prime Minister said.
"What will follow that is, ultimately, the approval of the manufacturing process here in Australia for the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will launch the next very significant phase of the home-grown vaccination of Australians for COVID-19."
Supplied: Sarah Mullins
)The 3.8 million doses of the Ozford-AstraZeneca vaccine which arrived at the weekend had been stored in a facility in Western Sydney.
Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, these doses can be stored at fridge temperature, making them easier to distribute.
Most Australians are expected to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, which needs two doses, administered 12 weeks apart.
More to come.
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2021-03-03 23:47:49Z
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