Health Minister Mark Butler tells Andrew Wilkie that local Moderna vaccination available mid year

A Moderna Covid vaccine made in Victoria will be available this year but Clark MP Andrew Wilkie says it will be too late for one constituent. Read why.

New local Covid vaccination likely to be available mid-year.

Tasmanians are expected to be able to access a Moderna Covid vaccine manufactured in Australia later this year.

But Independent Clark MHR Andrew Wilkie is worried that it will not be available for some time and vulnerable Tasmanians will still have no choice but to have a Pfizer vaccination.

In a letter to Mr Wilkie, Health Minister Mark Butler said that subject to regulatory approvals, supply of an Australian-made Moderna Covid vaccine was expected to start in mid-2025.

“The government has entered into a 10-year partnership with Moderna and the Victorian Government that has seen Moderna build an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility at Monash University in Victoria,” Mr Butler wrote.

“Covid-19 vaccination combined with ‘Covid safe’ behaviours continue to be the most effective tools in protecting against the risk of severe disease from Covid.”

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Wilkie raised the issue of Covid vaccines after being contacted by a constituent due to be hospitalised next month who told him she needed a vaccination but had an allergic reaction to Pfizer and Moderna was “the only option she can safely use”.

The woman, who also contacted the Mercury, said she had heart issues when she had a Pfizer vaccination and was fearful of having another one.

Mr Wilkie welcomed the manufacturing of Moderna in Victoria.

“However, production times and regulatory approvals will mean that the vaccine won’t be available for some time, so this doesn’t solve the immediate issues confronting vulnerable groups,” he said.

“We mustn’t forget that while Covid may no longer be making front-page news, it hasn’t magically gone away and remains an extremely dangerous, life-threatening and communicable disease.

“It essential that everyone, and particularly our most vulnerable in the community, have access to the Covid vaccination.

“And if for an individual it has been established that they cannot safely have a specific vaccine, alternatives must always be readily available.”

A woman gets a Covid vaccine shot.

Dr Toby Gardner, the chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in Tasmania said the Moderna Covid vaccine had previously been made overseas.

“So shoring up supply of an mRNA vaccine locally made is a real advancement in Australia,” he said.

“If we’ve got the technology to do that with mRNA vaccines here now, that means with any future unknown viruses that come along, we hopefully should be able to rapidly develop a vaccine against it rather than waiting on overseas developments.”

While Covid is still in the community, Dr Gardner said he was seeing more cases of influenza and pertussis (whooping cough).

“School has just resumed and people are mixing a bit more now,” he said.

Originally published as Health Minister Mark Butler tells Andrew Wilkie that local Moderna vaccination available mid year