Budget: Scott Morrison’s $2bn jab to beat pandemics

Scott Morrison has tipped in ­almost $2bn to clinch a deal with Moderna to produce 100 million mRNA jabs under a 10-year plan to pandemic-proof the nation.

Scott Morrison says ‘this landmark agreement means that Australia can make up to 100 million world-leading mRNA doses every year’. Picture: Dan Peled

Scott Morrison has tipped in ­almost $2bn to clinch a deal with Moderna to produce 100 million mRNA jabs under a 10-year plan to pandemic-proof the nation, as state governments hold the line against a resurgence in Covid-19 infections.

With Covid-19 cases across the country soaring to almost 62,000 new infections on Wednesday, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation met to finalise approval for a fourth jab ahead of winter.

Ahead of next Tuesday’s budget, the Prime Minister will travel to Melbourne on Thursday to announce the vaccine hub agreement with Moderna and the Victorian government, locking in long-term mRNA jab supplies.

The Australian understands commonwealth investment in the Moderna facility is about $2bn over the decade and will feature as a commercial-in-confidence line item in next week’s budget. The funding was included in MYEFO under an almost $16bn war chest of government policies not yet ­announced.

Mr Morrison, who has been ­attacked by Labor for failing to ­deliver sovereign manufacturing of mRNA vaccines sooner, said Moderna’s vaccine facility would “protect Australians from future pandemics and secure a new manufacturing capability right here on our shores”.

The global pharmaceutical giant will begin construction on the vaccine facility this year and begin manufacturing millions of Covid-19, influenza and respiratory mRNA vaccines from 2024.

“This landmark agreement means that Australia can make up to 100 million world-leading mRNA doses every year, which can protect against evolving strains of Covid-19 or new respiratory diseases that emerge into the future,” Mr Morrison said.

“This will be the first mRNA production facility in the southern hemisphere, and will ensure Australians have quick and easy access to these lifesaving vaccines.

“This next generation of Aussie-made, innovative healthcare will also support around 500 ­direct jobs during construction, plus hundreds of indirect jobs, with up to 200 highly skilled staff to work at the facility.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt, a key figure in securing the deal, said: “It’s like having Apple set up a global R&D and manufacturing hub in Australia in 1990. It will generate jobs and health outcomes, but it will be the centrepiece of a globally leading precision medicine sector.”

The Coalition and Labor are preparing for a federal election clash over who is better equipped to manage the ongoing Covid-19 health response, with senior ­federal government figures concerned about the double impact of rising Covid-19 infections and ­influenza spikes during the ­campaign.

The vaccine hub agreement with Moderna will lock in long-term mRNA jab supplies. Picture: Brendan Radke

As state and territory health officials warned of further spikes fanned by the highly infectious Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews called for calm, despite seeing case numbers in the state jump by more than 10,000 in 24 hours.

Ahead of an Australian Health Protection Principal Committee meeting on Wednesday to ­consider scrapping seven-day ­isolation rules for close contacts, Mr Andrews urged Victorians to remain positive.

“We have seen an uptick in cases here and in NSW even more so,” Mr Andrews said. “This is not gone. This is not over – but there is a cause for us to be optimistic about this (in the) ­medium term and indeed the long term. Schools are open. They were open on day one of term one. That was unthinkable last year. Let’s just wait and see what the experts tell us is safe.”

The national cabinet, which is not due to meet again until after the May federal election, has asked the AHPPC to consider easing quarantine rules and requirements for healthy Australians to take PCR tests.

Hospitalisation rates and ­intensive care admissions across the country have remained stable despite the new wave of Covid-19 cases. But a growing number of health workers have been forced into isolation in the past week, putting pressure on hospital systems.

Health officials warned that the Omicron sub-variant, which is now the dominant strain in Australia, was between 25 per cent and 50 per cent more virulent than previous variants.

With the number of people infected in Queensland jumping by 61 per cent in the past week, the state Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the majority of new infections were in young people, ranging from primary-school age to 30-year-olds “because they are more mobile in the community”.

Ms D’Ath said more than 1600 health workers were in isolation. “Surgeries are having to be suspended because of that,” she said.

In response to more than 24,100 infections in 24 hours, NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell ordered more rapid antigen tests into schools.

Mr Hunt said Moderna’s mNRA production facility, flagged in December last year, would give Australians access to the “most cutting-edge vaccination technology available both now and into the future”.

The vaccine manufacturer, one of only two global companies with approved mRNA products, will be able to ramp up production during future pandemics and alter vaccine sequences in response to new variants.

Moderna Australia general manager Michael Azrak said the vaccine hub would provide Australia with direct access to “a ­domestically manufactured port­folio of mRNA vaccines against respiratory viruses, ­including Covid-19 and seasonal influenza”.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the vaccine ­investment would be strengthened by Moderna’s “incredibly strong pipeline of innovative products”.

“By establishing its headquarters for Australia, Southeast Asia and Oceania in Victoria, Moderna will be a key player in the development of Australia’s broader RNA ecosystem which will help drive incredible economic benefits,” Senator Birmingham said.

Additional reporting: Lydia Lynch, Angelica Snowden