COVID-19: Australia orders additional 135 million vaccine doses for mass inoculation

On November 4, the Australian government agreed to purchase two more COVID-19 vaccines, increasing the count to 135 million doses in total for its population to combat the COVID-19 infection, health minister Gregg Hunt informed. Australian PM Scott Morrison aims to immunize maximum people in a countrywide mass inoculation program within months. The Australian government signed an agreement for $1.7bn AUD ($1.24 bn USD) for early 85 million doses from AstraZeneca by January 2021 and has procured an additional 40 million vaccine doses from Novavax, and 10 million fro Pfizer and BioNTech. 

“By securing multiple COVID-19 vaccines we are giving Australians the best shot at early access to a vaccine, should trials prove successful,” Prime Minister Morrison said.

“We aren’t putting all our eggs in one basket and we will continue to pursue further vaccines should our medical experts recommend them. There are no guarantees that these vaccines will prove successful, however our Strategy puts Australia at the front of the queue, if our medical experts give the vaccines the green light.”

According to a release by BioPharma, Scott Morrison’s government has pledged free COVID-19 vaccines across Australia if trials for the experimental candidate by the University of Queensland are successful. The government has ordered the vaccines according to 2 doses per person plan and aims to manufacture doses in Melbourne. Meanwhile, according to an update by Indo pacific’s Centre for Health Security, Australia had pledged $80 million to the COVAX Facility Advance Market Commitment (COVAX AMC) for safe, effective, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines to be made available for 92 countries in Asia Pacific region. The COVAX AMC is part of the wider COVAX Facility set up by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization to ensure equitable access to vaccines for all developing countries. 

Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a release, “The goal and the expectation is that Australians who sought vaccination will be vaccinated within 2021. There are no surprises, health and aged care workers and the elderly and vulnerable will be the first to gain access to a vaccine that’s deemed safe and effective.”

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"Australia will assist with the assessment of vaccine safety, efficacy and quality by national regulatory authorities, informed by WHO advises," Australian ministry of health informed.

4 types of vaccines

An additional $500 million was pledged by the Australian government for implementation of the "full immunization coverage" in the region. In an interview with TV broadcaster Nine Network, Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt said that Novavax and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will be manufactured in the US and Europe and are an addition to Australia’s 4 types of vaccines two protein, one viral vector, and one MRMA. Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Novavax are leading in the human clinical trials of the effective COVID-19 vaccine. 

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