Coronavirus: Australian-made vaccine available ‘within months’

PM says a vaccine should be available within six months, after announcing new deals with two promising options under clinical trial.

‘Australians will gain free access to a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 if trials prove successful’: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture Getty Images

Scott Morrison says a coronavirus vaccine should be available for Australians within six months, after announcing new deals to secure access to two of the most promising options under clinical trial.

Under a $1.7bn commitment, Australians will get priority access to more than 84 million doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, and another being developed by the University of Queensland in partnership with CSL.

If trials prove successful, the vaccines will be almost entirely manufactured in Melbourne, with early access to 3.8 million doses of the Oxford vaccine in January and February.

It is the first time the government has set out a possible timeline for Australians to get access to a COVID-19 vaccine, offering hope for a nation battered by lockdown and divided by coronavirus border closures.

The Prime Minister said while there were no guarantees either option would be successful, Australia was now at the front of the queue for two of the top vaccine candidates.

“Australians will gain free access to a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 if trials prove successful,” Mr Morrison said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets with team member Savannah Alegre, Specialist Team Lead of the Sydney Microbiology Laboratory at AstraZeneca in August. Picture: Getty Images

“By securing the production and supply agreements, Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a safe and effective vaccine, should it pass late-stage testing.”

The deal to secure the UQ/CSL vaccine increases the nation’s chances of getting fast access to coronavirus immunisations. And the deal with AstraZeneca finalises an agreement with the company after an initial letter of intent to obtain the University of Oxford vaccine should it prove successful.

Any spare doses of either vaccine will be made available to ­Pacific countries and Southeast Asian partners.

Both of the vaccines are likely to require two doses per person: an initial dose, and a booster. And both will need to be proven safe and meet all regulatory requirements before being made available to the public.

If both vaccine candidates are successful, Australia will have an estimated 30 million spare doses to immunise 15 million people in neighbouring countries.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is world leading, having entered phase three trials involving 30,000 people. To date it has ­generated strong immune responses, with no significant safety concerns.

Its trials are expected to continue into 2021, with applications for regulatory approval likely to be submitted in the third quarter this year.

UQ has recently revealed preclinical tests show its vaccine, developed with $5m in federal government support, is already effective in animals. Phase one clinical trials began in Brisbane in July.

Labor had criticised the government as recently as Saturday for failing to finalise the Oxford/AstraZeneca deal, after the company warned the letter of intent “doesn’t go into any detail about the costs or numbers or anything until we have an idea of what the manufacturing capacity is”.

But the agreement confirms that CSL would manufacture ­either or both of the vaccines, with 95 per cent of the promised 84.8 million doses being manufactured onshore.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said a hoped-for coronavirus vaccine would be “fundamental to the safety of individuals and our nation, and will protect our elderly and our frail and we can all help save lives”. However, he said any successful vaccine would not be mandatory.

It is likely that the first available doses of either vaccine will be given to vulnerable people and frontline healthcare workers.