Highlights
- AstraZeneca's chief executive, Pascal Soriot, claims the company has the "winning formula" and that new data shows it is as effective as rival candidates, including Pfizer
- Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia has made the right choice when it comes to coronavirus vaccines.
- Public distribution is expected to begin in March
Australians are hoping the New Year brings new hope, with a COVID-19 vaccine.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says regulatory approval is on its way but the government won't be rushing the process.
Australia's coronavirus inoculation program is based on a trio of different vaccines; the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the Novavax vaccine.
Initial trial results suggested the vaccine would be about 62 per cent effective in preventing the disease, compared to the 95 per cent efficacy reported by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Australia has secured an initial 3.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for early 2021, and another 50 million will be manufactured throughout the year domestically.
Despite ongoing trials and approvals, Mr Hunt remains confident Australia has made the right choice.
He says the AstraZeneca vaccine is based on inoculation technology already commonly used in medicine.
"One important consideration is that the world has never had what is called an mRNA vaccine before. Pfizer and Moderna are both mRNA vaccines. The Oxford-AstraZeneca is a viral vector vaccine, and the Novavax is a protein vaccine.
So, they are three different vaccines. The mRNA is however new, and not previously used for any form of communicable disease on all of the advice that I have. That's why they have approached that on the basis that they have"
Professor Peter Collignon from the Australian National University expects Australia will be at an advantage.
With no uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus, he says Australia has the opportunity to wait and see results from vaccination programs around the world.
Minister Hunt says the latest advice is very good news for Australians.
"I think the latest advice will be very, very good news for Australians. That Pfizer is progressing well, Oxford is progressing well. And whilst we wait for more data on Novavax, the last advice we have is that it is progressing well. In short, I think it will be a good new year for Australians. But I also think it will be a safe and healthy new year for Australians."
