New vaccine plant builds on our scientific strengths

The most successful civilisations and nations historically are those with the capacity to strengthen their position and help their people by building out of the ravages of war, tragedy and plague. In the wake of the sometimes deadly COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout, especially in Victoria, Australians can take heart from the $1.8bn agreement between the Morrison government and biotech giant CSL to be announced on Monday. The far-sighted development will see the largest biotech and vaccine manufacturing plant in the southern hemisphere built in Melbourne. The pandemic, currently crippling the US, Britain, Europe and developing nations, has demonstrated the dangers of future global security threats. Vaccines are not necessarily a panacea; and they take time to develop. But the plant, a major part of the Morrison government’s post-pandemic manufacturing strategy, will have the capacity to deliver pandemic and seasonal flu vaccines that will quarantine Australians from global supply chain shortages or queues. Aside from pandemics and flu vaccines, it will produce a vaccine against Q fever, a debilitating disease caught from livestock. It can harm patients for years. It will also make a range of life-saving anti-venoms.

In an age when science and technology are increasingly important cornerstones of nations’ wellbeing and prosperity, the facility will create 1300 high-end bio and med-tech jobs, as well as 520 construction jobs when building starts next year. It will be funded through an $800m construction investment by CSL subsidiary Seqirus and a $1bn commitment by the commonwealth to purchase all future vaccinations for the next 12 years. That worthwhile investment of taxpayers’ money in nation-building will help keep Australians safe by strengthening our long-term sovereign medical capabilities, creating the ability to develop new vaccines when needed. Scott Morrison says the new complex will be the most hi-tech in the southern hemisphere, using cell-based technology to enable faster production in the event of pandemics.

While Victoria, NSW and Queensland again recorded no new transmissions of COVID on Sunday, the predicament of other nations was a sharp reminder that the pandemic will remain a threat until a safe, effective vaccine is in place. The number of new infections in the US surged to another record of 184,514 on Friday, a 20 per cent increase from Thursday. In Britain, 26,860 new cases and 462 coronavirus deaths were recorded on Saturday. Italy’s second wave has put more than 33,000 people in hospital, more than during the dark months of March-April, and is killing about 600 a day. The spread of the virus through minks in at least six countries is also a concern.

Given the disease’s contagion, Australia’s national cabinet, correctly, is taking nothing for granted as we head towards Christmas in a strong position, with internal borders reopening, albeit too slowly in some cases. At its 31st meeting on Friday, national cabinet endorsed the review of the contact tracing and outbreak management systems of each state and territory, led by Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel. All 22 recommendations of the report will be adopted. States will commit to faster COVID-19 testing and notification systems, with results to be made available within 24 hours and potential contacts notified within two days of the test. In the event of any outbreak, the approach will be to go hard and go early. A digital data exchange will be created to enable states and territories to easily access and transfer information about cases and contacts where people have crossed borders. The review also found states and territories should share new technologies, such as electronic venue and workplace attendance registration systems, smartphone apps to monitor self-quarantine, new diagnostic tests and wastewater surveillance. To their credit, states and territories were assessed as now having strong contact tracing and outbreak management systems in place. From now on, they will stress-test their systems regularly. As the Prime Minister said after the meeting, such protections would keep the nation open. Those at the frontlines of fighting coronavirus can be proud Mr Morrison is forwarding a copy of the review to US president-elect Joe Biden. It will also be available to other countries.

There is no room for complacency. Eleven months after the first cases of a then-mystery disease were linked to a Chinese wildlife market, a World Health Organisation investigation is under way. But as The Times reports, concessions to Beijing are undermining it. There is still no timeline for the international team to enter China and no guarantee who it may interview, what records it will see or whether it will be allowed to visit Wuhan, the city that was ground zero. WHO has agreed that Chinese researchers will conduct the early stages of the investigation. Against that disturbing background, Australia is right in fine-tuning testing and contact tracing, and investing in the new vaccine plant.