Australia won’t roll out its own Covid-19 vaccine until mid 2021 – as experts warn we must live with the disease for many years
- The University of Queensland is developing a vaccine in partnership with CSL
- Experts said on Monday that it will not be ready for roll out until middle of 2021
- In the meantime, Australia will hand out jabs made abroad starting from March
Australia’s domestically made coronavirus vaccine will not be ready until mid next year despite foreign jabs being rolled out in March, scientists said on Monday.
The University of Queensland is developing a vaccine in partnership with pharmaceutical company CSL – and the government has ordered 51 million doses.
Phase two and three trials are expected to start this month meaning the jab could be rolled out in the middle of next year if they are successful, the university’s Professor Paul Young told The Australian Financial Review Innovation Summit.
The jab will first be handed to health workers and the vulnerable, including the elderly and Indigenous Australians. There is no plan to prioritise children who are less vulnerable
In the meantime, Australia will use up to three vaccines created abroad – with the first jabs expected to hit arms in March.
One vaccine created by US firm Pfizer is already being rolled out in the UK after getting emergency approval – but it is not expected to be approved Down Under until late January.
The government wants everyone who requests a jab to be vaccinated by the end of 2021.
CSL chief scientific officer Andrew Nash said the country could achieve a take up of 80 to 90 per cent, allowing the nation to open its borders even to countries with no vaccine.
‘The question is how rapidly can we open up to the rest of the world again,’ he said.
‘The easiest way for us to control our destiny is to vaccinate the Australian population so that we’re protected from people coming in who have the virus.’
However, he warned a vaccine will not completely eradicate the disease which may require annual vaccines like flu.
‘I would say this is with us for a number of years yet and we are going to have to learn to live with that ambiguity,’ he said.
In Australia any vaccine will be optional and the government has no plans to apply the ‘no jab, no pay’ rule that stops parents getting some welfare payments if they refuse to vaccinate their child against other illnesses.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he has ‘great confidence’ in Australia’s regulators to make sure any vaccine is completely safe before it is approved.
The jab will first be handed to health workers and the vulnerable, such as the elderly and Indigenous Australians. Children are not classed as vulnerable and will not be prioritised.
The vaccine will then be offered to the general public, with all Australians who want the jab expected to be vaccinated by the end of 2021.
The UK became the first country in the world to give the go-ahead to a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech on Wednesday, paving the way for vaccinations to start next week.
But it has only been approved for emergency use on vulnerable people because Covid-19 is so rampant in the UK.
Australia does not have a way to approve a drug for emergency use, meaning full approval will be required.
This is expected in late January or February as scientists pour over trial data.
Mr Morrison said Australia was in no rush because the Covid-19 situation in Australia is ‘very stable’ with only a handful of cases.
‘In Australia, we are in a very strong position and that enables us to get this right,’ he said.
Australian regulators are considering three vaccines – which all require two doses per person – with data from final-stage trials expected to be released in full this month.
The deals add to agreements already signed with the University of Queensland and the University of Oxford and take the total number of potential doses secured to 134million
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