Moderna vaccine to arrive in Australia from US next week

The first doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the US will arrive in Australia next week and start rolling out from September 20.

The first doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the US will arrive in Australia next week and start rolling out from September 20 after being batch tested by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

The vaccine will then be made available from pharmacists, the Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed late on Sunday night.

A spokesman for the Minister told The Australian that after batch testing the first doses would be cleared for distribution by thousands of community pharmacies.

However, pharmacists and some chemist groups said they were yet to receive an exact date.

Sunday saw the arrival of almost 300,000 Pfizer doses from the UK, in lieu of Australia supplying Britain with booster shots later in the year, with another 160,000 doses due to hit our shores.

This is on top of the 500,000 Pfizer doses due this month after Canberra struck a vaccine swap deal with Singapore.

However vaccination appointments have become increasingly difficult to secure after the federal government opened eligibility for the Pfizer jab to 16 to 40-year-olds.

Children aged between 12 and 15 are in a priority group who can also get the shot.

If all goes to plan, from the end of this month millions of extra vaccines will be ready to inject into the arms of Australians, with citizens in NSW and Victoria seeing it as their only possible path out of lockdown.

More appointments are expected to become available as supply increases.

Doses of the Moderna vaccine will arrive in Australia next week. Picture: Joseph Prezioso/AFP

The US and UK are sending extra vaccines to Australia. Picture: Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP

Meanwhile, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is rallying 80 of Australia’s biggest businesses to support the end of lockdowns and the easing of border restrictions once the national vaccination rate reaches 80 per cent.

When pressed for more information about Moderna’s arrival, Mr Hunt’s office deferred to the Health Department, where a spokesman said it was not expecting the Moderna shots until at least the end of the month.

“The Australian government is anticipating the arrival of the first shipment of the Moderna (Spikevax) vaccine in late September,” the Health Department spokesman said.

“The first shipment will be one million doses and the remaining nine million doses will be delivered over the remainder of the year ensuring a steady supply for administration of first and second doses. After delivery, once the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) completes its standard batch release processes, these doses will be put to immediate use.

“The National Covid Vaccine Taskforce plans to supply Moderna to approximately 3500 pharmacies across the country. This will be delivered in a staged approach with around 1200 pharmacies coming on board in the first month.”

Boxes of the Moderna vaccine at a health centre in LA. Picture: Jay L Clendenin/LA Times/Getty Images

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid was confident that 80 per cent of the population would be vaccinated by the end of the year, paving the way for a reopening of the nation.

“Appointments available right now with GPs are only assuming the static supply of vaccine,” Dr Khorshid said.

“But as the vaccine becomes more available, there’ll be more GPs enrolled in the program, there’ll be more pharmacists, obviously providing the Moderna vaccine as well, and there will be more appointments available to Australians.

“So while it looks like you can only make an appointment in December now that situation will change, because we are expecting very large amounts of Pfizer in particular coming into the country through September and October.”

While appointments for Pfizer jabs are in short supply there are plenty available for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

But take-up of that vaccine has been slow after it was linked to rare blood clots, prompting the federal government’s vaccine advisory group ATAGI to recommend Pfizer for 16 to 60-year-olds.