Moderna vaccine: What we know and when we’ll get it

Queenslanders will be able to access the Moderna from pharmacies across the state from September, with up to 20,000 doses expected to arrive each week. Here’s what we know so far.

Queenslanders will be able to access the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from hundreds of pharmacies across the state from September, with up to 20,000 doses expected to arrive each week.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration on Monday approved the use of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine, which has been used widely in countries such as the US and Singapore.

The federal government in May bought 25 million doses of the vaccine, manufactured in the US, with 10 million for primary vaccinations this year and a further 15 million as booster shots in 2022.

A million doses of the jab are expected to arrive in mid-September, to be rolled out mainly by pharmacies.

There are already 516 pharmacies offering the AstraZeneca jab statewide, with the number to eclipse 700 by the end of the week as more join the rollout.

Queensland, through government-run clinics, GPs and pharmacies, administered a record 255,659 jabs last week, a 25 per cent increase on its weekly average of the previous month.

Queensland is slated to receive up to 20,000 doses of Moderna each week from the second half of September, with stocks building in October onwards according to the federal government vaccine horizon allocation document.

TGA head Professor John Skerritt said Moderna, according to clinical data, had proven to be 93 per cent effective against Covid-19.

Two doses of Moderna are needed to fully vaccinate a person, with the jab to be taken 28 days apart.

Prof Skerritt said the TGA was now going through the process to approve the Moderna jab for use in children 12 years and older.

“We made the decision in conjunction with the company to do the adults first because that enabled us to reach a decision earlier,” he said.

“The data on teenagers does look good and we should be able to make a decision, again convening the expert advisory committee, within the next three or four weeks.”

Unlike the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, the Moderna vials do not need to be kept at super cold temperatures, making distribution much easier.

Moderna’s vaccine can be kept at minus-20C, about the same as a home freezer.

In its latest financial report filed in the US, Moderna included information about a number of planned trials of its Covid-19 vaccine, including one with about 6000 healthy children aged between six months and 12 years old.

Prof Skerritt said he welcomed Moderna’s announcement of a trial and noted at this stage there had been no application to conduct the clinical trial in Australia.