Greg Hunt: Australia now leading the race for a vaccine
Australia has long punched above its weight in health and medical research — think Gardasil, cochlear and penicillin, to name a few. Could we add to that proud record a cure for COVID-19, asks Greg Hunt.
Opinion
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Australia is one of the world’s leading nations in our response to the coronavirus. Together, through our testing, tracing, border controls and social distancing we have helped flatten the curve in terms of new infections. This is saving and protecting lives.
We are also helping to lead the world in the search for new treatments and possible vaccines.
The search will require patience — as the Prime Minister has said, patience must be our virtue. It will require perseverance and it will require great skill.
There is absolutely no doubt Australia has some of the best and brightest medical researchers in the world. There is work to be done, but our response to COVID-19 so far has been magnificent.
Firstly, in terms of treatments, there are more than 300 trials of treatments under way globally, including several here in Australia. Some involve new drugs. Some seek to use — re-purpose — existing ones. Some are more promising than others.
Anti-malarial drugs, HIV medications and arthritis treatments are all in the mix. The concept of immunological therapy using the serum of recovered patients — boosting people’s immune systems to help them fight off the virus — is also very noteworthy.
It’s important we wait for trials of these new treatments. We can then look closely at the results, rather than rushing to the latest rumour on social media or even individual, non-controlled reports of use in severe infections.
Finding a vaccine for COVID-19 is a not insignificant task. But with many different approaches in various stages of development, there is optimism — real optimism. Many countries are part of the vaccine search — in Europe, the United States, China and Australia.
It’s estimated there are more than 60 vaccines currently in various stages of development around the globe. In Australia, researchers are involved in many of the different steps associated with creating a vaccine, from understanding the basic immunology, to creating and testing vaccine candidates, to partnering with industry to accelerate development, and to putting the first trial vaccines into people.
For example, Katherine Kedzierska’s group at the Doherty Institute has discovered how the immune system reacts to SARS-CoV-2. The Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL, part of CSIRO) is trialling vaccines in animals to see which ones are most likely to work in humans. University of Queensland is partnering with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and a number of pharmaceutical companies to develop a vaccine based on previously developed technologies. This week, the Nucleus Network announced it would be trialling a vaccine candidate in people.
Talk around a vaccine inevitably focuses on timing. Vaccines need to be shown to work and be safe. They need to be able to be scaled up to mass production. This all takes time. It will be many months. In the world of vaccine development, 18 months would still be an extremely short time.
Sometimes vaccines are not developed at all. That has so far been the case with coronavirus vaccines. A human vaccine for coronavirus strains has never been found. There are already four coronaviruses in human beings, including the one that causes the common cold. We don’t have a vaccine for the common cold, nor one for the other similar viruses, like SARS and MERS.
In terms of funding, the Australian government is providing unprecedented support. Australians can be assured the government is doing everything it can to back in our scientists in the fight against COVID-19, including finding a vaccine.
We are supporting vital work by the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies group with $2 million for projects to produce early, rapid diagnosis of infections in aged care accommodation, where our most vulnerable are. This is on top of the $1 million to Sydney University I announced this week for improved CT scanning.
Currently, the Australian health and medical research sector is enjoying a golden moment thanks to our landmark $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund. A transformative task like finding a vaccine for COVID-19 is precisely what the fund is designed to promote and support.
Australia has long punched above its weight in health and medical research at home and abroad. Think Gardasil. Think cochlear. Think penicillin, to name just a few major breakthroughs. Could we add to that proud record a cure for COVID-19?
Greg Hunt is federal Health Minister.
Originally published as Greg Hunt: Australia now leading the race for a vaccine
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