Coronavirus: Pros and cons of each vaccine and when Australians will get them

There are three vaccine options Australia has secured to tackle COVID-19. This is how long it will take for them to become available.

With a growing list of countries rapidly vaccinating their populations against coronavirus, there is mounting pressure on the Australian government to follow in its footsteps.

The Federal Govenrment has contracts in place for three different coronavirus vaccines, though the approval process is expected to take considerably longer than it has in the United Kingdom and United States.

The earliest approvals from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration are expected by the end of January 2021, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed the first doses could be available by mid-February.

Quarantine, border workers and front line officials as well as those working in aged and disability care, and those disability care residents will be among the first to get the jab.

“We anticipate optimistically that we would hope to start the vaccination with around 80,000 vaccinations a week,” Mr Morrison told reporters on January 7.

He said it was hoped about four million people would be vaccinated by the end of March.

The delivery of the vaccine will be done in partnership with the states and territories as each of them has different needs, different populations and different geography.

Here is a look at each of the vaccine candidates and when they might be available to Australians.

PFIZER/BIONTECH

The Pfizer/BioNTech is probably the vaccine most people have heard about as it is the one being used by the UK government.

It’s also the vaccine Australia is most likely to get first, with a rollout expected to begin as early as mid-February, although the government is seeking more information after 29 deaths in Norway.

The vaccine is being developed by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech.

This candidate is an mRNA-based vaccine which has never been approved before.

Up to now vaccines have been developed using a weak or dead version of a virus, or by using a laboratory-made protein.

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Britain was the first country to approve Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine. Picture: Joel Saget/AFP

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But mRNA vaccines can be created entirely by scientists in a laboratory using chemicals, enzymes, bacteria or live cells.

Essentially the scientists make a synthetic version of the virus’s messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). Once this is injected into the body, the mRNA prompts the body to make a particular protein, which is detected by the immune system and this causes the immune system to make antibodies to fight against it.

Australia has ordered 10 million doses of the vaccine which will be manufactured off shore if the candidate is approved.

Recipients will need to get two doses of the vaccine 21 days apart. Pfizer and BioNTech are reportedly charging buyers $US19.50 ($A26.30) per dose.

Pros:

• The vaccine was found to be 95 per cent effective in protecting against COVID-19 in Phase 3 clinical trials. Of the 43,000 people in the trial only eight people in the vaccine group developed coronavirus, compared to 162 into the placebo group.

• It was also found to be more than 94 per cent effective in people over the age of 65.

• There have been minimal adverse reactions, with a small amount of participants experiencing fatigue and headaches after receiving the jab.

Cons:

• It must be stored at -70C. This means that an unbroken ‘cold chain’ must be maintained from the time the vaccine comes off the production line to the time when it is administered.

• This leaves the Australian government with three options: keeping doses in ultra-low freezers where they can last up to six months, keeping doses in eskies where they can last up to 15 days or storing doses in a regular fridge where they can last up to five days.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD/ASTRAZENECA

This vaccine being developed by University of Oxford and pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Australia has bought just under 54 million doses of the vaccine, enough to vaccinate its entire population, and most of this will be manufactured by CSL in Australia.

The vaccine has already been rolled out in Britain but Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration is not expected to complete its investigations until February.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was not possible to provide a closer timetable but added that Pfizer’s global protocols require approximately two weeks for delivery post approval of the vaccine.

“So the vaccine does not arrive pre approval. The vaccine is only released and distributed to countries once the approval is provided,” he told reporters.

The AstraZeneca product is a viral vector vaccine which means it uses a weakened version of the virus, which is incapable of causing disease itself, to deliver an antigen into the body.

The vaccine is expected to cost around $AU4 a dose but will be provided free to Australians.

Pros:

• The vaccine was shown to be 90 per cent effective when given as a half dose followed by a full dose a month later.

• It is significantly cheaper per dose than the other candidates.

• Can be stored between 2C to 8C for at least six months, allowing for easier manufacturing, distribution and storage.

• No serious safety events relating to the vaccine were observed during Phase 3 trials, with the shot “well tolerated” across different dosing regimens.

Cons:

• When given two full doses a month a part the vaccine showed a lower efficacy rate of 62 per cent, which is significantly lower than some of the other candidates.

• It was revealed the people that received the half-dose of the vaccine were all younger than 55, which raised concerns the 90 per cent efficacy for that dosage group may be skewed.

NOVAVAX

This vaccine candidate is being created by American vaccine development company Novavax.

It is still undergoing trials including a Phase III trial with results due in the first half of 2021.

Like the University of Queensland/CSL candidate, this is a protein vaccine.

Australia has ordered 51 million doses to be made available in 2021 if the vaccine is approved.

The Novavax vaccine is expected to be about $US16 (A$21.60) per dose.

Pros:

• Early clinical trials have shown the vaccine is generally well tolerated and can provide strong antibody responses.

• It only needs to be stored at refrigerator temperatures.

Cons:

• Results from its late stage clinical trials aren’t expected until early 2021, meaning exact percentages of the vaccine’s effectiveness have not yet been released.

• It is expected to be a lot more expensive per dose than the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, though it will still be cheaper than the Pfizer/BioNTech candidate.

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Queensland University scientists working in the lab on a coronavirus vaccine

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND/CSL

The Australian government also had an agreement to use the vaccine being developed by the University of Queensland and biotechnology company CSL.

This agreement was ended after Phase One trials showed participants were returning false positives for HIV as a result of the vaccine.

Follow up tests confirmed there was no HIV virus present and there was no possibility of the vaccine causing the infection, the decision was made not to go forward with the trials over concerns people may decrease confidence in other vaccine candidates.

University of Queensland researchers said they were “devastated” by the outcome.

“I think there’s probably a single word that sums it up, it’s devastated,” Professor Paul Young said.

“The last 24 hours or so have been particularly difficult. The last 11 months we’ve been living and breathing this project … it’s challenging times, but that’s science.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at “no point” did the government expect all of its vaccine candidates to be successful, which is why it entered into different agreements.