Australia announces vaccine deal, Victoria cases drop

Australia has announced a deal to manufacture a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

"We've signed a letter of intent with AstraZeneca, which will enable Australia to access, should it be successful, the vaccine for the COVID-19 here in Australia, manufactured here in Australia, distributed free to 25 million Australians," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.

He said the Oxford University trial was in a phase-three stage and more work was needed to prove its viability.

Morrison said there was no guarantee that the vaccine would be successful, but said his government is continuing discussions with other parties around the world, and also backing Australian researchers at the same time to find a vaccine.

The deal came as Australia's hard-hit Victoria state announced its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than five weeks.

The Victoria's Health authorities on Wednesday said 216 new COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths were reported in the latest 24-hour period.

"We are trending down and that's a very good sign," Victoria state Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters in Melbourne.